The second trip was a trip to Tokyo, Japan in 2010. (This trip actually happened six years ago this week. Which also means that six years ago I was in my last year of high school and this makes me feel old). This entry will be short, because as much as I liked Japan, the trip was just a trip. It had no real educational merit to it, I don’t feel overly changed from it. It was cool and it still remains the only Asian country I’ve visited (unless you count my 50 minutes in Seoul airport). My real take away from going to Japan was how (not) to travel and started the ball rolling about what it meant to be Canadian.

There can be real benefits from having only half-baked plans without too many pre-planned activities when you travel. This is my current style of traveling. But when you are 17, traveling in a group and are unable to make any decisions by yourself, this method leaves for a lot of down time in a hotel when you could be out exploring.

You also need to know and recognize that other cultures, are just that. Different. They are not your own. What is okay in your culture is not always okay in others.

You don’t need to fully understand why (although it helps) you just need to do whatever is culturally standard in the place you’re visiting. You are a guest in a new country. Act like it. If your country has a social rule of eating while walking, or blowing your nose in public – who are you to question it? If you walk into a new acquaintance’s house and you start telling a story about your pet Velociraptor and they then tell you to please never mention Velociraptor in their house, it is not your place to prod and demand an explanation. You just need to take it, adapt your behaviour and apologize if you have messed up.

This was also the first time I actually felt Canadian. The national identity of Canada for the longest time, for me, was nothing more than the cover on my passport and the idea we were not American. Some days it still feels like this. What makes me Canadian? Well, I’m not American. We went to Tokyo right after Canada had won the gold medal in hockey on home soil (amongst other medals but the hockey one was the most important). Of course, this was also the year everyone had red or white Canada hoodies. It was suddenly okay to wear it, wearing your pride was no longer just an American thing. We didn’t fully understand what it meant to be Canadian (and frankly I still don’t), but we embraced it.

We were recognized as being Canadian – which is a good and bad thing. It was odd because in Europe, everyone is so used to tourists, it is not a big deal at all, you’re just another face. We just blended in with the masses and no one really took a second care. It was like being in Canada, no body really cared as it was just normal. If you act like an idiot in Vancouver, you are seen as just another stupid kid. In Tokyo, we stood out, we were wearing our hoodies, and so any behaviour or actions we did, reflected not only us, but of Canada.

After 10 days of exploring shrines and temples, Disneyland, Namsha land (which was the creepiest place I’ve ever been and it wasn’t even supposed to be creepy), eating soy sauce ice cream and more Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets than I can to admit, we flew back home with a little bit bigger of a world view.