I've been watching two shows for the past two hours.
The first one is about weight in America. They sent a skinny Japanese girl to middle-America. They set her up with a big, fat host family. I didn't catch how much they weighed, but they were certainly on the big-boy side of the fence.
The parents ate around 6,500 calories worth of food (each), and the children had around 4,500. The Japanese woman ate the same food as the children. She gained 6 pounds in one day, and her body fat ratio went from 16% to 18%.
And none of this surprised me.
But what's really interesting? In the past week or two, the Japanese government has passed a series of laws that force people with a certain waistline to lose weight or lose public-funded health benefits (I think that's how it works anyway). They call it "Metabo," a trendy word that combines a number of problems America is facing (obesity, to name one).
The thing is this: Japan isn't fat. And though it's a bit ridiculous to see this law now, I can see how it may keep Japan from headed down America's path. After all, if you let people know they need to start losing weight or lose health benefits in the future, it'll be on their minds... I actually respect the law (or at least it's intent).
The show also mentioned that someone tried to pass similar laws in America. One particularly interesting clause was that a restaurant had to turn obsese people away. As the Japanese commentators made note of, a law like they have in Japan would never work in America. Why? It's too late. Everyone knows how hard it is to lose weight, and such a large percent of our population is obsese // getting there, a good number of people would make a stink about it.
Besides... we love freedom, and eating 6 pound burgers is a part of that.
The other show was about a girl in Cambodia that digs through trash for a living. She collects anything that can be recycled and sells it. She makes barely enough money for her and her family to live, she doesn't go to school, and poor nutrition has stunted her growth and made her look like she's 9 years old (she's actually 14). It was a very emotional program to watch, especially when the host asked her what her dream was and her response was: "I don't have a dream. All I know is the trash mountain... but I do want my father to be healthy." And that was it. I figured she'd have all kinds of dreams (isn't that the model we're taught in America? Adversity leads to dreams and hard work? I guess it doesn't work when people realize early on that they likely don't have a much control over their future).
I have to admit... though I can't understand most of what I see on T.V., Japanese T.V. is much, much better than it's American counterpart. The variety shows and game shows are quite good. The travel shows are especially entertaining... but I'm afraid news is news all over the world. Not much detail, sound bites, sound bites, and more sound bites.
One thing I really love about the travel shows is the following: The hosts always ask people questions in Japanese, and the person always answers in their native language. And all along the host of the show pretends they know what's going on. It's a really fun game. The poor translator much constantly wonder why he or she isn't the host of the show.
Aside from T.V. junk, I'm pretty set on the next 10-11 months. The next two will be in Japan, then 2 in America, and then 6 studying at a private school in Osaka. And all of this excites me. I wouldn't say that Japanese is getting any easier... but it's certainly less scary than it was a year ago.
Going to Osaka is going to be a blast. Having lived in a very, very rural location for the past two years, going to the city is going to be mind-blowing. The fact that I'll be able to make friends and see them anytime I want... I haven't had that for 2 years. Never mind the ability to see art, music, etc. It's one thing to move to a city; but, it's completely different to move from a city when you've lived in the middle of nowhere. Especially a city as stimulating as Osaka.
Ok. That's it for now. I've got lots to write about, but I can only write so much in a given sitting. I'll try to write again before the end of the month.
