June 14 - Intentionality

(This post will be modified and descriptions of photos added when I have some time. I don’t want to get too far away to record initial responses.)

The structured programming on the third day of the program was a scavenger hunt. Technos students broke us into teams of 2 international faculty, 3-4 international students, 3 Technos student guides. We were given a list of ~20 tasks to accomplish throughout Tokyo over the course of 6 hours. The other faculty member in my group was the other theatre person on the trip, Hope College’s Eric Van Tassel.** Based on conversations with other faculty following our scavenger hunts, the approach and experience varied greatly. This is not especially surprising given the differences in personalities, leadership styles, etc.

Our leaders were clearly trying to stay out of our way and let us determine a plan of attack, while providing guidance when we made decisions. They did not lead our exploration. I deeply appreciated this approach as it forced us to engage more deeply with the activities we were asked to do. The people I was paired with were all curious and the non-Technos folks early on came to the decision that we were more interested in experiencing Tokyo along the way than we were in winning the competition. This felt like exactly the right choice to me…but in retrospect I suspect that it was disrespectful to the time that our students spent planning the expedition. I’m sure they selected specific activities and places for us to explore for reasons that were important to them.

This leads to my major reflection for the day - intentionality is best shared when clearly articulated. I know I went through many theatre programs that emphasized just trying things without being told why you are doing. The rationale for this was always that you will figure out the reason afterwards and it empowers students to determine the takeaway for themselves. I appreciate the open exploration of this offer, and the opportunity to make my own meaning from things. But over the years I have come to believe that telling someone why I have structured an experience in the way that I have both forces me to be more careful in how I set up my work and allows for others to more fully invest in the activity as designed. As a participant, knowing why I am being asked to do something doesn’t limit my ability to process the work on my own, it simply aids me in dialectic engagement with what I am doing. Without this guidance it is easier to dismiss the work at hand.

During the course of the scavenger hunt that we completed, we: took a photo of our feet near a mosaic with the word “Tokyo” in it; took photos outside of a 3 different convenience stores; took a video of someone opening a package of onigiri (one of my favorite new foods discovered here!); took a photo of a small shrine we came across on a side street; took a photo of a red mail box; took a photo of someone throwing away trash (it is definitely a challenge to find trash bins here, yet there is little to no littering - everywhere you go, including the metro, people are constantly cleaning); took a group selfie; and explored the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum. We only had time to explore maybe a third of the museum, and even that was by overpowering the Technos student and exploring for longer than we were intended. We did get to walk through a couple of lovely farmhouses from the Edo period. They felt expansive and warm due to the open floor plan and wood floors. (They were also very dark.) On the way out of the museum, we returned to a thrift store we’d walked past before it was open and did a little shopping. I was bummed to only find they had a second floor at the last moment, but happy to discover a vest that fit me perfectly (thanks to Eric for scoping that out, or really for being too big to take it home himself). I’ve been looking for those back in the states to no avail. Although we had not yet completed all of the tasks (I’m guessing we finished around 50% of the hunt), we concluded the day as planned at lunch where I had a lovely curry dish.

Following the conclusion of our scavenger hunt over a group meal, Eric and I went to check out Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden since we had had our interest piqued during our trip to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, where it could be seen as a large expanse of green nestled into the center of the city. The garden did not disappoint and was a lovely break from the rush of the rest of the day.

** I am still struggling to learn the names of the students in the program - especially those from Technos. Outside of our main hosts, we meet many new students and faculty each day and I’m finding it a profound challenge to learn their names. There is much to write about how taxing navigating a new culture, with a language I do not understand and cannot rely on cognates or an alphabet I recognize to make educated guesses, in spaces that are buzzing with sound (in addition to many conversations and translations many of our classroom spaces also play constant background music). I am grateful for the chance to experience what so many go through as they are forced to leave homelands due to climate change, wars, and other displacement. I am also frustrated by my slow learning. But I will keep trying.