Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa (Karin Muller)

Nabuwang ako in a somewhat positive kind of way. Ha-ha!

Cynical ako nung umpisa. Banatan ba naman ng ganito sa unang paragraph:

I remember turning twenty-one in a squatter's village on a remote island in the Philippines...

Hindi ako sanay magbasa ng ganitong tipo (lalo't documentary) pero nagustuhan ko ang paraan ng pagkakasulat. Suwabe ang daloy ng pagkukuwento.

Higit sa lahat, nagimbal ang mundo ko. Kinailangan ko i-deviate ang sarili ko sa pag-iisip ng kung anu-ano na namang kaviolahan. Inabot ng tatlong araw na sumpong. Hindi siya masaya.

Para takasan ang nobela, kinailangan kong magbasa ng ibang magaang nobela. Nyahaha!

Sa bandang huli, panibagong aral na naman ang napulot sa buhay ng may buhay.

Nagiging mosaic na ako sa mga hiram na pananaw.

I was wrong about them: their conformity to the system is not a sign of weakness, but rather a great inner strength. (Karin, p.300)

If you want to live in Japan for a long time, then you must be reborn. You must forget everything you know and everything you believe in, and start over. You must value age and experience over book learning. You must do as you're told and blank your mind to any other thoughts. You cannot feel resentment against the system, not even for a single moment. You cannot demand fairness or equality, or even hope for it. You must learn to believe in a society that is based on hierarchy. It is a completely different way of thinking, of living, of being. If you do not accept it utterly, into your soul, then you will not survive. (Roberto, pp.66-67)