YAJIE
ALESSANDRA'S ASIA
Web Content Editor and Copywriter obsessed with Asia. Yajie It is the blog where Alessandra shares articles related to Japan, Korea and China.
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Welcome to Easy Travel hosting! COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR OBSESSION WITH ASIA AND HOW YOUR BLOG WAS BORN?
Thank you for inviting me to this chat about travel and my favorite countries.
My obsession with Asia was born with me. Ever since I can remember, Japan and China occupy a large part of my imagination and thoughts. I was just a child when I watched Japanese cartoons and dreamed of visiting this distant land and it didn't take long for this childhood interest to become a real passion and the subject of my university and professional studies.
My blog was therefore born from a dual need. On the one hand I felt the need to combine my profession as a web content editor with my passion for the countries of the distant east, on the other hand, however, there was the urgency to tell these lands (especially China) To whom these lands do not know them at all. Since university times I have always found myself discussing with those who limited themselves to judging the People's Republic of China based on a western and Eurocentric vision.
I propose myself to offer a different look at the East, a western but not judgmental gaze. What I want is to open a window on these cultures in order to arouse curiosity e, maybe, Maybe even the desire to deepen and go beyond the hearing.
LOVE FOR ANIME AND MANGA IS ESSENTIAL, IN YOUR OPINION, FROM THE LOVE FOR JAPANESE CULTURE?
Absolutely not. During my volunteering experience in Hokkaido, my Japanese adventure companions called me an "otaku" (nerd, obsessed with comics and anime) unlike them, who weren't particularly fond of comics or cartoons. The image of Japanese culture intrinsically linked to the world of manga is a bit of a stereotype (which I certainly don't help eradicate haha).
However, it is undeniable that my generation's first window into Japan was Japanese cartoons, anime, and then then the comics, branched out. In the pre-internet era, before low-cost travel and the possibility of visiting Japan at affordable prices, The cartoons on television were our encyclopedia. As for me, As a child I did not know anyone who had ever been to the Rising Sun and China was still that mysterious country that seemed to be interested only in journalists and writers.
Right, The same speech would not apply to today's children, But in the 1980s/90s the cartoons made us really immerse in a different way of life, In a very distant culture that fascinated and intrigued us everyone.
For the same reason, Those who have developed a love for Japanese culture in different contexts not necessarily are a manga player or an anime lover (or a cosplayer). Japanese culture is immense and fascinating for many reasons, many of which are far from the more “otaku” art forms. Manga and anime are real passions and strands of art with undisputed credibility but which can be liked or not liked.
So no, I don't believe that love for anime and manga is essential from love for Japanese culture but I believe that respect for these art forms is. Those who know and appreciate Japanese culture, recognizes the cultural and historical importance of these two elements. Differently from those who don't know or love Japan, so anime and manga remain simple forms of entertainment for children.
IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONLY ONE ASIAN STATE, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
This is an extremely difficult question and I hope I never have to make a similar choice. Japan is a love that I have carried with me since childhood while I associate China with a more mature love, more adult: a country whose interest did not arise spontaneously but which I chose to get to know and study as an adult.
I would therefore choose China, the middle earth, the Dragon par excellence. Why? Simply because it is a country that never ceases to amaze and that is capable of changing and evolving with greater strength than any other country.
Historically, China was very powerful, the most powerful country in the world. But then she fell, she has been humiliated and mocked by the Western world. Ostracized and muddy in any way possible. Yet here it is there, to trace the ashes as the most majestic of the Phoenicians. In complete silence, She managed to enter the chessboard of the world powers again. Yet it does not boast of it. Leaves us here, convinced of our western moral superiority while she creates a new way of living by recovering her space in the world.
When I talk about the RPC with someone, Often and willingly my interlocutors still believe that China is a third world country. That poverty is widespread and visible also by tourists, that "there is nothing to see" because it is a poor country. It will seem strange but every time I announced that I would go on the trail in the dragon I have always been asked the question: “But what are you going to do? There is nothing in China!”
Absurd, no?
And who explains to these people that I am going to a country that has long eradicated payment by cash and where the beggars also ask for alms through WeChat? Who explains that artificial intelligence is so on in this country that the entire shipping chain is now managed by robots and that there are even hotels and restaurants whose staff is entirely robotic?
That's why I would choose China. Because this is where the story is taking place, even if many of us still don't know it.
What do you do to make your travels more ecological?
When I travel I always try to rely on sharing economy services. AirBnb, BlaBla Car, Uber, HomeExchange and CouchSurfing are just some of the services I use during my travels.
I am in love with this turn that our society has taken: the idea of sharing goods and making the journey a common experience between traveler and host, have the opportunity to meet and spend time with local people and live in inhabited houses and not in sterile hotels.
Furthermore, I believe that the best way to make the difference both at an environmental and humanitarian level is to rely on non -governmental associations or organizations that make sustainability their primary objective.
In the 2013 I participated in two volunteer projects in Japan and Hong Kong through the International Civil Service (SCI), An NGO dedicated to developing cooperation and training activities. Thanks to this experience I learned a lot about our social and environmental impact, su che cosa voglia dire inclusione e sostenibilità e come cambiare le cose una volta tornati a casa.
Ski has taught me that the most important thing we can do when we travel is to return, that is to share our testimony with others. That it is telling the story of the Nepalese minority in Hong Kong or explain how a social farm on the island of Hokkaido guests all those people who have not found their own space in the Tokyo metropolis, Our testimony can be an opportunity for growth for those who listen to us and therefore a means for change.
These are teachings that I treasure even today on my every trip. I try to travel as authenticly as possible. Choose voluntary trips or "workaways" instead of holiday packages, I get hosted by local people instead of booking a hotel, I eat local instead of in the chains. But above all I always try to know the reality of the place I visit knowing people, informing me about the marginalization situations, So that he can "return" once home and change not only myself but also anyone who will have the patience to listen to my stories.
Easy Travel Hosting Thanks to heart Alessandra for this perspective that gave us on Asia, A gigantic area of our planet still so little happens and little explored.
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