Dear readers,

as you already know, I took part as Junior Coordinator in the Virtual Exchange Project from the beginning of February 2021 to the end of March 2021.

It has been a month already since the conclusion of the project and it is now the time to look back at what we have created, and to share with you all some thoughts and consideration.

If I had to describe with a single word the state I was in during the end (but also thorough the whole month and, probably, year) of January, it would be “lost“. I felt lost because my main goal and dream of the past few years had become true, but it turned out to be very different from what I had imagined, leaving me truly disappointed.

Learning the Japanese language thorough my teens meant that I had this imagined “safe place” where I could always return, because it was in my mind and it was mine and mine only. “Japan”, “Japanese language”, “Japanese”, all of that was, sure, a real thing, but for the fact I was so distant and unable to get to know the “actual” Japan I transformed real people and real places into a canvas where I could paint on, freely.

That is why when I had the possibility to actually go to Japan last year the shock got me feeling really sick.

My whole canvas, along with the brush strokes I had painted on it for the last 8-10 years, was suddenly washed away: it just wasn’t valid anymore.

It’s like when you’re a child, and you believe in Santa Claus: every Christmas it’s going to be a super exciting day because you know that Santa is coming. But as soon as they tell you Santa doesn’t exist, you cease to feel that excitement and you are left disappointed.

However, I am glad this process happened. And I am glad the Virtual Exchange Project happened, too.

But how are these two experiences connected?

First of all, I am deeply thankful to the Virtual Exchange Project for pulling me out of that feeling of loss; it sure has been a tough two months, but I could feel a strong sense of purpose as I worked towards the foundation of such a project.

But most of all, I am glad my younger colleagues have now this opportunity to talk, know, meet and think freely, through the Japanese language, wherever they are, whatever it may happen, and without crazy expenses.

In my experience, I wish I would have had a first-hand contact with Japan and people from Japan earlier. Being able to paint a canvas the way I liked felt really good, and at the time made me feel safe and calm, but it is also a dangerous thing to do.

People are real! Japan is a real place! Constructing an imagined Japan may serve as a strategy to heal one’s own wounds but it can also project unreal characteristics on the imagined Other, and on top of that when the imagined Japan and the real Japan clash together it can really mess up one’s own mental health.

The Virtual Exchange Project makes it possible to realize that Japan and the people are real very early on in one’s own study path. It brings people together, in a place where they can share their thoughts and view on the world and a broad variety of topics, encouraging a knowledge that is also awareness, of oneself as of others.

I hope this project continues to grow and serve as a window on a world that is not necessarily always at our fingertip, but that is always around us.

Until next time,

Matteo

Junior Coordinator