What I Learned About Myself and My Neighborhood

This class is definitely my most challenging class so far. I took newswriting before and it’s nothing like this reporting class. The first assignment, which was to find 20+ names of contacts, freaked me out. I wondered for hours around Japantown just trying to find the “right person” and that person never appeared. So, I had to summon all the courage that I got, talking to strangers. The first step is definitely the scariest one!

As time went by, I learned not to freak out right before an interview (hint: do it secretly). Of course, there’s also a time when I was totally nervous but I tried to hide it. Journalism is definitely about learning to put a mask on. You can be super clueless in an interview or a meeting but you have to pretend that you understand only to gain a trust that you’re a professional (by the way, you still have to clarify and ask questions later… don’t just stay quiet). You may be bored to tears because the person you interview ramble on about things that are not really interesting or may not be your interest but you still have to put the professional mask and ask questions.

I’m learning to be persistent and not giving up easily. I experience failures and moments of feeling-like-I-want-to-give-up thing but it became less frequent. The crime story was definitely a lot of work. My God… I had a new respect for journalists who write criminal stories now.

As for my neighborhood, I learned to venture outside my comfort zone (read: the mall) and try to emerge myself to the neighborhood. P (Peter Yamamoto) said the best place to hang out with the locals is Benkyodo and that where I spent my time now when I’m in the neigborhood. I can sit there and hear people talking in Japanese. Bummer… I should learn some Japanese to be able to participate in their discussion. A plus for me is that I looked like a Japanese so people seemed to be comfortable to talk to me about their internment time, post- or pre-war story and Japanese culture.

I learned that Japantown was not as financially secured as I thought it was too. I definitely enjoyed talking to people and learning about new things. I hope this new knowledge will be of a use for me in the future.

How About a Date?

The first person that I interviewed was a young lady who spent a lot of time in Japantown. She was sweet and answered all of my questions. After I was done interviewing her, she said maybe I should also interview the guy who worked there. I was reluctant to do the interview in front of her because some people did not feel comfortable talking in front of many people. I said to the young lady if I would like to do that but maybe later. She kept saying I should do it now though. For the sake of returning her kindness, I asked the guy if he was available to answer some questions. He said yes.


These are some of the things that I asked

Me: Why Japantown? Why do you choose to work in Japantown?
He: Hm… Can I be honest?
Me: Sure
He: There’s a lot of cute girls, here
(I blinked my eyes several times before I was finally able to continue my interview)
Me: Em… well…, okay
He: Oh… and because you go here (he said it to the young lady who sat next to me during the interview)

… the conversation continued

Me: What do you think about Japantown?
He: You know what… Japantown is actually a Korean Town
The young lady / She: What? No
(I looked at the young lady)
Me: Uh… yeah… I think it’s not like that
He: Japanese like me and my friends too only go here to work… (then, he continued to explain why he called Japantown as Korean Town)

(God, I felt bad for the young lady because she went there for the Japanese culture that Japantown may provide… I knew we should not show our bias but still I could not help it when I saw the young lady’s surprised face)

… the conversation continued

Me: Do you have any favorite place in Japantown?
He: Hm… oh… this café
Me: But you work here. Do you have any other place?
He: … … … Oh… there’s a good ramen restaurant down in Buchanan mall. The name’s Tanpopo. We can eat ramen. Do you have anything to do tonight? (he said it to the young lady beside me again)
Me: %@&#*$ (actually, I’m speechless)
She: … … … … …

I Scared A Lady

I was waiting in front of Brenda’s French Soul Food when the clock was moving toward 12 o’clock on a cold Saturday morning. I was in a big dilemma whether I should give up my more-than-an-hour waiting. I had an informal appointment with a lady at Benkyodo at 12 o’clock that day. Finally after sacrificing my primary need to eat something, I went to Benkyodo (a traditional mochi store in Japantown). It was 12 o'clock on the afternoon when I arrived there. My stomach was growling but I was glad the lady was still sitting there, sipping her hot drink.

I said, “Good morning. How are you?”

I felt a smile was blossoming from my face. I was really glad that I met the lady again. She was a Japanese senior citizen who spent a lot of time in Japantown. I talked to her the week before and asked her whether we can meet and talk again (only for talking not an interview). She said yes, she will be around on Saturday at 12 o’clock. The lady seemed to be quite knowledgeable with Japantown and I just felt that I had to talk to her somehow.

While she was sipping her hot drink and I ate my ohagi, I wondered what conversation should be used to break the ice. She just seemed distance and different from the lady that I met the week before. I wondered if she thought of me as a mere journalism student who was just poking her nose into other people’s business.

The week before we had a good conversation and then, when I left her, I bought some mochis to go and I thought, that was probably the time when she started to see me differently. I was quite persistent (more shameless probably) and refused to go before I got an interview with the owner of the store. I just went on looking at the articles and pictures on the wall while throwing a couple of quick questions now and then. I ended up getting a less than 10 minutes interview after I talked to the owner’s daughter who was there at that time. Deep down, I felt that I should not do this in front of her because I enjoyed talking to her as a person rather than a source.

However, she may see me differently after that little show of shamelessness. She threw a couple of quick questions before she finally said she had to leave. She did not even look at me and she just left like that while I was just sat beside her like a moment ago. Last week, she spent more than 45 minutes to talk to me.

It seemed like she tried to avoid me. There was a little bit of anger for her to leave me just like that when I even had to cancel my brunch for her. There was a little bit of disappointment that I did not get to talk to her. But more than that, I felt sad. Despite of my eagerness of getting a story, I want people to look at me as a person and not just a journalism student. Hopefully, I am just thinking too much.