Culture Differences

I've gotten pretty used to it because for a big part of my life I've been around people who grew up with cultures not so similar to my own, but if I think about it, trying to accept, understand, appreciate and live in a different culture is next to impossible.

For instance, living in Japan has presented a lot of these challenges up close and personal.  There are the easy things that most foreigners even enjoy, such as getting used to eating with chopsticks and bowing when you meet someone new.  People are pretty excited at doing things like this because they feel they are getting into the spirit of living away from home and experiencing a different culture.  They're right, but then come the more difficult things to accept and appreciate.

It doesn't take people from the Western world long to figure out what annoys them about Japan.  A few examples are as follows:

1. The Japanese education system.  Of course, the main gripes I hear about are the English education system, since that's what we have the most experience in.  They don't teach creativity, they don't teach communication, English is broken into hard formulas that don't resemble everyday communication, and the list goes on.

2. People take turns while driving at 1/4th the speed people do in the Western world, maybe slower.  Many other things about driving in general.  I could, and probably will, eventually write an entire entry about the differences of Japanese and Western driving.

3. Foods from back home, sold in Japan, aren't exact replicas.  The pizza is different.  They add fish to this, they don't add enough spices to that, and it never really stops.

4. Squat toilets.  Look it up in Google images and you'll know what I'm talking about.

5. Flattery.  One word in Japanese is all it takes for Japanese people to shower you in "Your Japanese is good/fluent!"  People are amazed when you can use chopsticks and will comment on it.  They are also super amazed if you can sing a Japanese song, even though they can get through all the Lady Gaga songs.  Again the list goes on.

6. The Japanese and foreigner line is thick and never erodes over time.  No matter how long you've been here, how good your Japanese is, if your knowledge of Japanese culture is deeper than theirs is, you will always be one of them, an outsider.  You can even marry a Japanese and you'll still make only a dent.

7. The directness, or rather, the lack of it.  The word "difficult" in Japanese is used to mean "no," and the way of turning you down is that people will say to your face that they want to do something, but will always be "busy" when you actually invite them out.


Despite only being here a little over a year and not talking to all that many foreigners outside of my own circle, I've heard encyclopedias worth of complaints from foreigners about things that Japan does wrong.  I don't mean to say that things won't be frustrating at times.  That would be stupid.  There's things people think are wrong with their own countries and cultures as well.  The main thing is that they complain in a way that belittles Japan and puts their own culture and ideas on a pedestal.  I've done it too.  Er... I do it too.

Just for fun, I'm going to make categories of people dealing with a foreign culture, mainly because I'm bored at work and don't want to fall asleep.

1. The Beginner- Sorry for my lack of creative naming, but I'm lazy.  Anyway this person just decided to come over without caring to research the country they were going to live in for some amount of time.  It gets bad when they still don't know what's going on after some months.  Ignorant lazy people these are.

2. Sour Grape- These people get here and think it's going to be fun and roses, but they just can't get over the differences of their home country and the one they chose to live in.  They don't want to make any attempt to integrate into their new culture, they just want all the people to adapt to the sour grape's customs.  They don't stay long, and if they do, they whine the entire time.

3. Expiring Grape- These people know a lot about the culture.  You can tell because they're always complaining about it.  They're in the country, and even entertain the culture and its ideas a lot of the time, but in front of other foreigners they can't wait to blow off steam about the "strange" ways of the "backwards culture" that they are in.

4. The Conceded- There are different aspects between home and the new culture.  These people realize this and try to integrate as much as possible, even if there are aspects they "don't get" or are frustrated by.  For the most part it's ok, but they still feel like blowing off steam every once in a while.  I feel like this most accurately describes me.

5. The Accepting- These people thrive in trying to know, understand and appreciate all aspects of the culture.  They are like the natives.  Things are the way they are just because they are, and are accepted as normal.  The things they complain about are the type of things a native might complain about, like government and such.

When you go live in a foreign country, you have to think about a multitude of things, from how to eat properly to things like knowing when it's appropriate to clap to celebrate or show appreciation.  Of course things are different, but that's usually just it.  Things aren't better or worse (sometimes they are), for the most part, they're just different.  I need to work on my appreciation of differences more, for sure.

偏見【へんけん】 (hen/ken) (n) prejudice; narrow view