By: Scott Maccarone, Community Guest Contributor
Days go slow, weeks go fast. “Wait, what day is it? Is it Thursday?” I ask my wife. “No it’s Tuesday” she responds. The days blend together and work from home keeps not only our bodies but our minds confined to the same four walls. Our brains want to be distracted. “I’ll get it!” I shout as my ears hear the sweet sound of the doorbell - another Amazon package containing some pens (I love writing instruments), protein bars, and the complete DVD collection of Poirot. Why am I still using DVD’s?! Because Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and all the other streaming services do not carry some of my favorite shows like Columbo and Poirot unless I sign up for another streaming subsidiary like BritBox or AcornTV. Maybe we will consolidate all these streaming services into an accessible, yet fully loaded entertainment service?! Yes - consolidated, accessible but loaded entertainment. Let’s call it CABLE for short! But I digress. Rantings and ramblings aside, the monotony of daily life during COVID can be difficult to cope with. Fortunately for me, I have each Saturday morning to look forward to with Aki Sensei teaching Japanese!
During non-COVID times, I would meet with my martial arts group (Kashima Shinryu at UCLA) for practice twice each week, and my wife, our son, and I would meet with friends for coffee, brunch, dinner, or walks on weekends. How do we maintain our mental health when the very mechanisms we employ to protect our sanity are stripped away? How do we regain a sense of routine and socialization when we are stuck at the bottom two rungs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? My answer came in the form of Aki Sensei’s Japanese class in addition to turning to Zoom for martial arts and social “gatherings”.
During non-COVID times, I would meet with my martial arts group (Kashima Shinryu at UCLA) for practice twice each week, and my wife, our son, and I would meet with friends for coffee, brunch, dinner, or walks on weekends. How do we maintain our mental health when the very mechanisms we employ to protect our sanity are stripped away? How do we regain a sense of routine and socialization when we are stuck at the bottom two rungs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? My answer came in the form of Aki Sensei’s Japanese class in addition to turning to Zoom for martial arts and social “gatherings”.
 | My Japanese language class gives me a sense of normalcy and progression when days smear together. I open my textbook’s in the evenings once my son has gone to bed and study Japanese for an hour. I can see my progress flipping through the pages of my textbook, lecture notes, and homework as the days, weeks, and months pass by. The completed lessons and homework assignments act like signposts along an intellectual highway - “Now passing Lesson 4. Next stop Lesson 5!” Having this intellectual highway is comforting since our temporal highway has been ravaged by COVID and under construction indefinitely. We typically measure progression with birthdays, holidays, festivals, and other celebrations with friends and family. Our response, for better or worse, has been to push pause on all these events, effectively freezing our sense of time because our celebrations - our sense of progression - have been stuck in a holding pattern for a full year. By creating my alternative intellectual highway, I have been comforted with a new sense of progression in my life. |
Aki Sensei does an excellent job each Saturday morning holding her students accountable for the material and ensuring each student has the opportunity to participate in class. Aki Sensei brings fun and interesting cultural topics and “phrases of the day” building the language-culture bridge. For example, we learned about Setsubun which occurs the day before spring, typically on February 3rd, but this year (2021) occured on February 2nd which had not happened since 1897! Setsubun is also called the “Bean-throwing Festival” owing to the tradition of throwing roasted soybeans while shouting “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (“Devils out! Fortune in!”). Along with seeing Aki Sensei and my classmates via Zoom each Saturday, the routine of studying and practicing Japanese at home has established a new normal for me - a new routine I can depend on through the chaos of work, parenting, and COVID.
I have found the mental challenge of learning Japanese gives me a sense of purpose when so many of my other activities and interests have been put on hold. I still practice Kashima Shinryu in a limited way on my own. And 1-2 times per week the group meets virtually for a short practice session and discussions. This practice exercises my body and spirit clearing out the mental cobwebs and better preparing my mind for Japanese lessons. But more than that, the language and my martial art feed each other and have served me well as strong and steady signposts as I traverse this new landscape.
I have found the mental challenge of learning Japanese gives me a sense of purpose when so many of my other activities and interests have been put on hold. I still practice Kashima Shinryu in a limited way on my own. And 1-2 times per week the group meets virtually for a short practice session and discussions. This practice exercises my body and spirit clearing out the mental cobwebs and better preparing my mind for Japanese lessons. But more than that, the language and my martial art feed each other and have served me well as strong and steady signposts as I traverse this new landscape.
 | ABOUT THE AUTHOR はじめまして。マカロネスコットです。よろしくおねがいします。 Scott Maccarone is a mathematician by education, earning a MS from UC Irvine, but writer by choice. Scott has practiced various martial arts from Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Kodokai, Judo, boxing, Muay Thai, and Kashima Shinryu. The history, spirit, and culture of Japanese martial arts elevate Scott’s practice into physical exercise, intellectual study, and a means to achieve psychological well-being. Scott has been to Japan twice and intends on many return visits post-COVID. Scott is most fortunate to have met his wife who is truly his best friend and better half, and is continually in awe of his young son whom he loves far more than evolution requires. |
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