One of my colleagues asked me maybe a year ago "how I know so much about the countries I work on". At that time the question struck me as odd. Sure, I might know a fair bit about the geographical region I deal with in my job but isn't that supposed to be normal?
The question keeps coming back to me over the last few months, also because of comments other colleagues have made to me. Such as that I always read every document there is, know what it is about, and can comment intelligently about it. The first isn't true in my perception so these comments are always a bit mysterious to me.
But I think I know now why this is - why people see me in this way. What I do in my job links for a large part to something that is a part of my live and that I am immensely interested in and fascinated by: Asia, more specifically China right now and Japan in the past.
Just a few examples:
> I have travelled extensively in the Asian region, mostly in Japan. And would love to see more and more.
> A third of the books I've read
for fun in my spare time this year were about China, with another third on that other topic which I find increasingly intriguing: sustainability. I don't read these books out of a sense of compulsory reading to keep up with my field. I read them because I enjoy them, I love reading about other people's experiences about these places, or about current developments etc.
> I follow several blogs about these countries and topics, because I'm genuinely interested.
> I happily go to debate evenings on any of these topics.
And to be honest, I don't think many of my colleagues do the same about their respective countries/regions.
So it's no surprise that I do actually know a lot. And that I can comment on a certain topic or development without having read the full 80-page report on it. That actually has nothing to do with how hard I work, but everything to do with having found a job which engages me fulltime with those issues that I find personally fascinating and worldchanging. It also doesn't mean that I've made my hobby into my work - because what I do for a living I wouldn't want to do for free. But it does feel like a pretty close ideal situation.
No wonder I'm having trouble letting go of this particular job. Though I also know that whatever comes next will ideally include the same topics and issues - and that shouldn't be too hard considering the growing importance of the region worldwide!
I'm only travelling part of this coast though, starting from Miyako in Iwate prefecture and heading north along a coast that is the northern half of the Rikuchu Kaigan National Park: 180 kilometers of stunning and spectacular cliffs, rocks and other natural scenery. I have a feeling this part may be one of the more accessible regions though I don't know for sure. One reason is that here trains are mostly back up - with a short exception - while I have heard that further south there is much more work still to be done. I guess it's more remote and some towns there suffered incredible damage.
Miyako is a town which feels good. Yes, there was a lot of damage but in the city centre this is mostly visible when you start noticing how much buildings look very new, or at least the ground floor does. Dinner last night was in a very friendly izakaya where the owners renovated for two months before re-opening as the building had been flooded with water 2 meters high. They had been inside during the earthquake and only barely managed to keep themselves standing - and then got the hell out of there to get away as quickly as possible for the expected tsunami.
Most of the 'visible' damage in Miyako - the rubble, the collapsed buildings, etc - are gone, with a collapsed Shell gas station as the clear exception. Instead, the city is rebuilding. And you can tell it is: there's lots of traffic, a lot of people about town, hotels are fully booked, and buildings are being rebuilt where ever you look. The town's people are positive that when summer is here, so will the tourists.
There's good reason for the tourists to come to see the dramatic cliffs of the coastal national park. These rocks and cliffs are also again a reminder of the force of nature. They have been here for centuries and still look the same as always: strong, imposing, powerful. Just like the tsunami was.
I'm continuing my journey north by train and for the moment also by bus for a short stretch of railroad which hasn't been restored yet (the other parts were put back to use only earlier this spring). But like a taxi driver told me "We won't be beat", which is even all the more admirable considering that people living here are confronted with what happened every day again - but that only seems to make their conviction to build up their towns and villages even stronger.
A very very impressive start of my 10 days across Tohoku.
