A Bit About Me

I created this blog several months ago in hopes of getting into the biz of writing more. What actually happened was the accumulation of a lot of thoughts and great ideas,  that were lost amidst a college graduation and the ensuing summer of fun. I just realized you know nothing about me so I’ll start by elaborating on my college graduation and why I’m where I am today.

That’s me (Tyler Bartels) with my girlfriend Kimi and we both just graduated from Boston University. You might wonder why a white (very pale) male such as myself received leis (culturally tied to Hawaii) upon graduating? To which I would bore you (or excite you) for hours with the stories of my time in Hawaii over my summer breaks working in a restaurant and the time I spent in the Hawaiian Cultural Association at BU. What I found in this culture was another family and a home amidst a childhood of constant change. If you need more reason I’ll just leave this picture of my Ohana at our 2016 Luau.

However, I’m not here trying to convince you that I’m Hawaiian (I’m nowhere close), I’m here to give you some background on me and why you might be interested in some stories I have to tell or some opinions I’ve formed on some salient issues. This is just one part of what has molded me into the man I am today. An even bigger part–as I continue to backtrack– was attending a boarding high school.

People think of two things when boarding schools are mentioned. Rich, brats who were shuttled away to a distant school because their parents hate them OR Hogwarts. If you weren’t thinking about Hogwarts before, then let me mention that I was a Head Prefect, and now try to tell me you aren’t thinking about Percy Weasley. While, yes there were some very wealthy people including the daughter of Dell and members of the Eastwood family, there was also exposure to so many different cultures than the average American probably would encounter in their whole life. Spending nights eating microwave rice wrapped in dried seaweed, watching Cantonese movies in my friends room and learning how to play mahjong opened my eyes up to a world that no one told me about as a kid.

Enter a kid overwhelmed by new experiences, who decided to take a chance as a sophomore in high school and switch from French 3 to Japanese 1. What’s left is an experience that massively altered my life. I’m not being dramatic. I’m confident I wouldn’t know anything substantial about Asia. Now that’s not a bad thing, however, the amazing experiences I’ve been rewarded with for the various cultures I was exposed to is something I can’t put into words. The friends I gained were worth more to me than anything I could’ve hoped for.

Growing up, my friends and I were very much under the impression we could imitate Chinese with the old silverware falling down the stairs. I pretended I was speaking Japanese by rambling off Toshiba, Godzilla, Honda. I knew more about France, but didn’t know much about the rest of Europe. However, I had my hobbies an loved my sports. But once I truly experienced another culture for the first time day after day, I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to learn more and more and although I didn’t love all of the foods or all of the aspects of the different cultures, they still intrigued me and drove me down a certain path, a path I’m truly grateful for.

Now were back to me, here and now. I’m a Boston University Graduate with a major in International Relations and a minor in Japanese. I studied abroad in Kyoto and Tokyo and throughout my studies became more and more engrossed in the dynamics of Asia’s International Relations and in particular the domestic political situation within Japan. During my senior year this affinity for Asia brought me to apply to the JET Program. Just 2 months ago I received my acceptance letter and now I intend to spend a year in Japan teaching english and participating in some serious cultural exchange.

I’ve got a lot to say about the current situation in Okinawa and some other domestic issues around Japan as well as some thoughts on the larger state of affairs in Asia as a whole. I’ll be updating my blog with some pictures and stories of my adventures while I’m abroad and hopefully I’ll get to dive into the soccer culture here a bit.

Additionally, if there was one thing I could truly convey that I’ve learned so far (even at my young age) it’s that home is truly where you have friends and that family doesn’t have to be blood nor is it excluded to those “like” you. Family transcends these boundaries of culture, language etc. As I get ready to head off to Japan this is even more prevalent for me and for those getting ready to set off on new chapters of your life there may be some solace in my words.