Celebrating Resilience

The day began as it usually does, with its long train ride early in the morning, cold walks, and Google translate brush-up which, by now, has become slowly etched into our norm. We were greeted by a basic calculus class, the third of its kind, and the fourth math class in a week. Being a Humanities student who took her last math course two terms ago, it was, of course, a challenge to go rapid fire into the lion’s den without background nor context (and in a language I do not understand nonetheless!). However, I must acknowledge my buddy, Yuito’s heavenly patience into translating math formulas and giving me samples repeatedly until I get on track. He has been very kind to me in translating the lessons everyday so I won’t get bored when the professor goes full on Japanese on us, of which I am incredibly grateful. The next class wasn’t much different (at least to my incredibly ‘math-snobby’ self), since Physics still had a lot of math and I was seated at the very back. It was fun to try the very tech-savvy experiment ourselves, though. It was Joshua who had to conduct the masterful pumping of fire since our petite selves can’t handle the pressure (literally... and, um, figuratively).

Lunch was quite different today because Johanna and I spent it alone rather than with the girls of the class because we were in a hurry for the day’s next agenda. Ironically, we chose to eat in a calm spot in the campus amidst the demanding schedule. NITAC is a very beautiful campus especially in spring. Flowers blossom everywhere which makes the perfect backdrop for a serene lunch perfectly adorned by the sound of nature.

The group travelled to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to visit their enlightening museum and library. We listened to Hiro-san speak about his life as an exchange student in the Philippines and inspired us with his stories of travel and incessant aim for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) all over the world, especially in developing countries. Afterwards, we walked a few blocks to the fascinating Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution. To say that I was moved by the visit would be grave understatement. The striking contrast of the morning’s very technical subjects to this afternoon’s emotional turn-out washed over me once again, and somehow reminded me why I am in the field I’m in right now.

In my first few days here in Japan, I have always wondered why I was able to adjust and slip into the culture easily. I figured it out after the visit to the earthquake memorial. Filipinos and Japanese, despite the struggle to overcome language barriers and find common ground in linguistics, both possess a striking kind of resilience. The kind that demands great respect from the nation and champions the courage of its people. I visited Tacloban a week before my trip to Japan. The stories I heard from the tricycle drivers that were struck by typhoon Yolanda were eerily similar to the tales of Hanshin-Awaji earthquake and the 2011 Tsunami. The stories struck the same chord and echoes the strength of our people; to be toppled over, time and time again, but to rise up and find courage in living. Heartbreaking as the stories of senseless deaths are, these tragedies birth to an undeniable image of hope. It is in trying times like these where we realize that everyone has kindness and love to give. It reminds me that humanity, with all its faults and shortcomings, is still worth fighting for.