| | I went to Hiroshima this weekend. While visiting the peace museum, I was very ambivalent (I just learned the real meaning of this word) for the most part. It was strange to be able to empathize with the Japanese victims in a more profound way having lived here for a year but also still feel a guilt that comes from being a member of the perpetrating country. Visiting the site of the detonation and seeing the one building that they left standing is entirely surreal. It is like finding an arrowhead in your backyard and realizing that you are only a member in a long train of human beings. And it is also a profound reminder of destruction. The A-bomb was an astounding thing. It completely destroyed everything for kilometers, and so fast. It makes visiting the museum very different than visiting the German death camps. There are so many pictures and emotional stories to be told from the concentration camps because the deaths were long in coming and the destruction was bloody rather than absolute. In Hiroshima, there was no one to take pictures and far fewer stories to be written. 140,000 people died within a few days. Most of them were kids who had been brought in to do destruction work as a precaution for the fire-bombing that was common at the time. A large percentage of the people at the epicenter of the blast were junior-high kids. War at this time in human history seems so removed from its roots of fighting for resources. It is now a product of so much more than base needs. It is brought on by pride and fear- fear more than anything I think. And its much too big. Before, there were rules and battlefields. Now there is only mass destruction and terror tactics. This world is not too much for us- it is too small for us. And there are too many people for me to comprehend. I want to be filled with love- but there is so much loving to do- where do I start- how do I start- where is my love needed.
I had my last day with students today. I gave a speech in Japanese. I choked up once. The kids gave me letters- and in some way- they provided a reassurance for my being here. I love these kids- and for some of them- it meant a lot to be able to make letters for me. |
| | Posted 7/20/2007 12:24 PM - 22 Views - 4 eProps - 2 comments
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