A week ago I returned from one of the greatest adventures I have had thus far in my life, my first international trip. On May 10th at 5:00 a.m., my best friend and I departed the Fayetteville Airport to start our journey to Japan. After roughly 26 hours which included three flights and a few obnoxiously long layovers we eventually landed at the Naha Airport in Okinawa.
Since I have returned many people have been asking me different questions about my experience, wanting to know about the culture the food, the sights that we saw. But I believe that one of the most interesting differences that I witnessed throughout those two weeks occurred whilst we were traveling.
Once we landed at the Tokyo Airport, my friend and I were excited and ready to see as much as we could. We walked all over the airport. I would like to say that we were exploring during our two-hour layover, however, most of the things we were able to see were on our way as we tried to find customs and then soon after, our gate.
One of the biggest things that I noticed on the way to and from Japan was the differences in security. Not necessarily the way that security was run but more of how the people running security treated those that were just trying to make it to their next destination.
In the Japanese culture, the value of respect is highly emphasized, and it clearly showed as soon as our plane landed. Many people were kind enough to help us or to point us in the right direction, even if they did not know a lot of English. The people in charge of security were helpful and all seemed to be happy doing their job. One man was smiling and shouting as more people would enter into the security line. A man near to me translated and said that he was welcoming everyone and thanking them for their patience as we went through security as well as informing them what we needed to do.
For me, this seemed to make it feel as if the line was moving faster and more smoothly than I was used to back home.
The sad part was arriving back in Washington DC, Dulles Airport. When we got in line to go through security it was a completely different atmosphere. The people working were shouting for everyone to empty their pockets and take our shoes off in line. There was nothing kind about it. It is a depressing thought to think that you know when you are back in the United States by the way you are treated upon your arrival. For us, it could have just been that we were so used to the polite way the Japanese people we had met would go about their day, however, the line for security and customs within the Dulles Airport seemed to be longer and the people in the lines with us were not shy in voicing their complaints out loud.
I think that it is important to take note how a little bit of civil respect and kindness can make people feel, and I think this is one of the more important things we learned from our trip.
