Lately the joke around the house is: “Because, it’s war times.”

As in, “Why in the hell does that air raid siren go off every morning at six?” “Why are the elementary school students still in uniform, running laps around town at seven at night?” “Why am I being served whole baby fish at school lunch?” “Why is there no air-conditioning or central heating?” “Why do students have to snap to attention before every class?” “Why do people work 75 hours a week.” “Why, why, why?”

“Because, it’s war times.”

Bwaah! haaa! haaa!

The funny thing is that we’re probably going to look back on this as our war times. Certainly it’s not overly pleasant being here; rather something to be endured. The main difference being that instead of freedom from Nazi tyranny, we’re fighting for a big, fat paycheck every month. You might look at it as voluntary service, without any of the honour or sacrifice.

And just like war times, we’re probably going to be better people because of it. Certainly we won't have saved the world, but we’re going to have the patience and understanding to survive anything life tosses our way (if you’ve ever sat through a Japanese meeting, you’ll vouch for me on that one). We’re going to have an understanding of foreign ways of thinking and doing things and be accepting of that. We’re going to know not to treat people like shit, even if they do have different skin colour. We’re going to know that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish a lot more than you thought you could. And we’re going to know that although things might look crappy now, there’s always tomorrow, so keep fighting damn it!