The Man, the Myth, the Legend: Mr. Steve Johnson’s travels
Steve Johnson, esteemed history teacher, takes traveling the world to a whole new level. Having explored several continents, he has a cultured view of society and its different governments and systems.
This summer, Johnson started his travels on the East Coast and took a train down to Kansas before spending some time in Independence, Missouri. But the real highlight was a seminar he attended right here in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles about the tragedy of the Japanese internment camps.
During World War II, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, all the Japanese Americans in the country were rounded up and stuck in remote camps. During the seminar, Johnson met with people who were children in the internment camps and listened to them recount their experiences.
“I think hearing stories from the survivors about what it did to their families and how it impacted their parents… to lose everything, it was just heartbreaking,” Johnson said.
This summer was less eventful for Johnson compared to his past travels. Last year, he took one of his yearly trips to Ireland with some colleagues and friends, something he has done seven times, once every other year.
“It started when some of my fellow teachers got tired of me talking about Ireland, because I love to go there, and they said ‘you should take us,’” he explained.
Johnson has been exploring Ireland since 1986 and says it is his favorite place in the world because of its physical beauty, history, music, and intriguing political situation.
Shiv Sompra, senior and a second year student of Johnson, thinks that the coolest trip his teacher has taken was to the Soviet Union, back when it was still in existence, where he visited Leningrad (modern day St. Petersburg) and Moscow.
“He helped tear down the Berlin Wall. He has a piece of it. It’s pretty cool,” Sompra said.
The history teacher’s trip to the Soviet Union was one of the most culturally different experiences he has had.
“It was shocking to see a place that was devoid of all capitalism, and materialism… People were living under a completely different government than we are used to and it made me really appreciate the United States,” Johnson said.
Last spring break, Johnson went to Israel. Above all the other places he has traveled, he considers this recent trip to be one of the most interesting and impactful he has been on.
“I got to experience firsthand what life is like there… to be there and walk in the same pathways that people have walked for thousands of years was just an extraordinary experience,” Johnson said.
Johnson has been around the world, from China to Europe to the Middle East, and he continues to gather knowledge and experience from everywhere he goes. He wants to share his experiences with students and sends them postcards from exotic places if they give him their address. Last year, senior Maria Luciani got one of his postcards from the Library of Congress.
Traveling has greatly impacted Johnson, allowing him experience the world to its full potential. “I think he is probably one of the best teachers I’ve ever had, he’s brilliant and he knows everything– emphasis on everything,” Luciani said. She relates Johnson to an encyclopedia because he is so well-versed in the history of many countries.
If there is one thing Mr. Johnson wants to ingrain into his students’ brain, it is to take advantage of the gift of different cultures and nations by traveling the world.
