Cultural Transcendence

An American tourist flies halfway around the world to experience a different culture. There must be so much to appreciate by visiting such an exotic place like Japan – the language, the customs, the bullet trains, the ancient temples in Tokyo, the neon lights in Osaka, the free-roaming deer in Nara. Yes, indeed, there was all that, and more. The more, in her case, was the Japanese outpost of Costco that “ranks right up there with the temples,” reported this 58-year-old retiree from Brownsville, Minnesota. Ah, there’s no place like home.

So why leave? To penetrate mysteries? The earth does not withhold many secrets anymore. VR travel opens up the stationary tourists via the simulated interactive 360-vistas of most any destination to become electronic cosmopolites as they can experience a walker’s view of cities, the interior of museums, or even an invitation into the virtual intimacy of a home. The only thing missing is the smell of the cooking but surely that is coming.

So, again, why travel? It’s probably a narcissistic fallacy to imagine that one’s mere passing through sets up a charmed understanding between the traveler and native, or even a bare comprehension. Or worse, there might be an implicit kind of colonial condescension chronicled by Theodore Roosevelt, age eleven, recording this account of his family’s 1869 grand tour including the way the Roosevelts tossed small pieces of cake to a crowd of Italian beggars: “We made them open their mouths and tossed cake into it.” Like chickens, like pigeons in the park.

Given the changing nature of travel in this era, the casual visitor who is hermetically sealed in some tour group becomes little more than a waterbug skittering across the surface of other cultures. The traveler’s trophies might even come from Costco.

The answer to why we travel is that we might in some sense be transformed, though such real travel requires actual effort and an openness to transcend a tourist mindset. This openness is what we shall experience (at least vicariously) in the next session through our focus piece (click: How The Japanese Do Life).

Joining us as a co-lead participant is club member Sewart Ward who lived in Japan for five years, speaks the language, is familiar with the literature, and is well-versed in the customs of this fascinating culture. He will be joined by new member Stephanie Altman who also knows what it means to land in unfamiliar places (throughout Africa) with a certain resolve to transcend a cultural mindset through curiosity, humility, and those small acts of connection that can turn a foreign place into home.

In addition, a symbolic chair will be dedicated to our long-time club member Jia Gottlieb, who subsequently married into Thai culture, both figuratively and literally. May we likewise be joined by those club members from a different culture as we discuss their respective experiences of what it’s like to be a stranger in a strange land, in their case the one we call America.

The ultimate discovery may be of oneself.

Please note the following RSVP Policy for Member Monday: RSVP sign-up opens up at 11:00am on Fridays via the City Club weekly Newsletter. Seats are first-come, first-served: the first 14 secure a spot at the table, the last 3 on the couch. Cancellations must be made 24 hours in advance or the standard Social Lunch rate applies.