FROM ANONYMOUS TO OBVIOUS: HOW NINE-YEAR OLDS TAUGHT ME TO APPRECIATE BEING PERCEIVED AS UNUSUAL Keri Lindene O'meara Oral Communication Teacher
Keri Lindene O'meara Ireland Oral Communication Teacher	Coming from Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities in the world, I am not used to standing out. Here in Japan, I am clearly perceived as strange and exotic and my tall frame, blonde hair, and blue eyes bring attract stares and whispers. I must admit there are days when I feel frustrated by this attention and think, "What is the big deal?" I suppose that despite globalization and the availability of western culture through mediums such as movies and television, many Japanese people do not have direct exposure to foreigners so that when they see someone with distinctly different physical characteristics, a real live version of the images they see in the media, it is, actually, a pretty big deal. 　As a child my access to a variety of races and ethnicities was something that I took for granted. This Was the norm. At my elementary school we had cultural days on which kids would dress in traditional costume, perform cultural dances, display special artifact or bring in food from their families kitchen. These events were organized to give us the opportunity to learn about, and participate in some of the different cultural traditions of our peers. I do not recall the cultural days being met with the same kind of curiosity and energy that was evident on February 2nd of this year when I joined two other foreign Oral Communication teachers and Ikuei's new crop of International students (from Canada, Croatia, Brazil and New Zealand) in a visit to the grade four classes of Nakanosakae Elementary School. 　Arranged between Ikuei's International Center and the principal of Nakanosakae, this event was framed as an activity to teach Japanese children how to interact with foreigners. Initially, I was a bit cynical, however my fears of simply being put on display were soon put to rest. This day was quite reminiscent of the cultural days of my youth. It was obvious from the meticulously designed nametags, the song and cultural play performed for us, the eagerness to teach us games, the familial lunch setting at which the kids were extremely polite and attentive, and the origami leis presented to each of us on upon our departure, that these children had planned this day with enthusiasm and care. Having us visit the children was a means to teach them the value of inter-cultural exchange and a way to get them excited about their own. They proudly taught us some of their traditions through games and song and were equally inquisitive about some of our unique, culturally defining practices. 　Perhaps the reason the children at Nakanosakae Elementary were more enthused by our visit than my peers and I were on our cultural days is because children are stimulated by the fantastic. For Canadian children who grow up in a multicultural, multiethnic, and multiracial environment a day of interacting with people whose appearance is dissimilar seems somewhat normal but for the children we visited, who rarely see foreigners, an encounter with "the other" is an inspiring event. 　I come from a place where there exists such a wide range of physical differences that it is considered somewhat inappropriate to point them out. This is not the case in Japan. Displaying blatant curiosity of that which is unique is completely separate from framing difference in terms of inequality, superiority, hate and envy. This is something which the grade four classes at Nakanosakae Elementary have helped me realize. After our visit to the school I made a promise to myself not to get frustrated when children point their fingers at me in the grocery store. They are simply displaying the same kind of worldly curiosity that I am by living in a country which is foreign to me.