My ethnicity is Japanese and my culture influences who I am. First of all, I will talk little bit about Japan and then I will discuss how my ethnic background influences me and what ethnical factors let people know my ethnicity by my way of communication.
Japan is an island country and is located in East Asia. More than 98 percent of the people in Japan are Japanese and most of them speak only Japanese. When people speak to an elder person or a person you meet for the first time, people usually use polite Japanese and bow instead of shaking their hands. Also, Japanese tend to pay less attention to religions. For example, people go to a temple or shrine on New Year’s Day, but also celebrate Christmas. Japanese culture is influenced by other Asian countries such as China, and Korea, and many Asian countries, including Japan, have an immense amount of respect for elder people and to show this respect, people use polite Japanese and never address them a without prefix.
Now that I am in America I can see how my ethnic background affects me more clearly. First, I keep a distance to people more than Americans do. In my culture, people do not shake hands except on business occasions and stand a little more far apart than Americans do. So, I sometimes feel uncomfortable when people give me their hand to shake or come close to me. Next, many American students look rude towards their teachers. In a classroom, students sit in their chairs loosely and chew gum and drink. Moreover, sometimes they call a teacher by their first name. If students do these things in Japan, teachers would tell them to leave a class or give them a F. Also, Americans might think I am an unsociable person. However, it looks strange to me to say ‘Hi’ to someone I do not know and use big hand gestures and change their facial expressions a lot. Now that I am used to it, I have found I was judging American people based on my cultural background. I thought I am not a stereotyped person, however, actually I was and my culture influenced me more than I was expected.
Next, people are aware of my ethnicity most when they hear me talk or observe my behaviors. First, Japanese tend to avoid being direct. For example, when you talk to someone and you cannot hear their voice very much, you would say “Your phone may be far.” It means same as “Speak louder”, but Japanese say that your phone’s bad and ask others to understand what they think without the words. When I talk to my American friend, sometimes this difference of speaking really exposes how different our two cultures are. Additionally, I was not familiar with ladies entering the door first because traditionally, men go first in my culture. One day, I was with my friend. He opened a door for me, but I thought he would go first, and of course he thought I would go first. Then we both were standing in front of the door for 30 seconds. Meeting a person who has different ethnical background makes a cultural difference clear.
In my opinion, the influence of ethnic background affects you more than you think, especially, when you are in different culture. If you have had an experience to face culture differences, what was it, and how did it affect you?
Thank you for telling us a little bit about Japan and your culture. I love learning about other cultures; it's really interesting! I spent three months last year living in Italy, and I definitely realized that I am an American, especially an American from the midwest. In Italy, men treat women more formally than in the US. For example, Italian men always pour the drinks at meals, allow women to choose food off serving platters first, and allow women to speak first. Sometimes my male friends there would wait for me to do something, only I had no idea what to do! The Italian women also act more aloof and proper than American women. I smile and laugh a lot, which is considered flirting in Italy (it got me into trouble a few times!). Before living abroad, I didn't really think about American culture or how American I truly am. I appreciate my culture and country now more than ever.
返信削除I do think that in order to appreciate another country you need to live there for a while. Not only do you appreciate the experience you gain, it gives you a great amount of insight into the customs and behaviors of your own country; the good and the bad. I have been to a quite a few European countries but the one I am most familiar with is Germany. Most notably, in regards to customs, Germans are more formal than Americans. They will shake hands but they would never address someone they did not know by their first name. It is always Herr, Fraulein, or Frau, then title if they have one, then the persons first and last name. So if I was talking to a doctor, it would be “Frau Doctor Susan Schmidt” etc. Also, they don’t say hello or hi when meeting someone on the street. Americans sometimes just say hello when they meet people on the street, even if they don’t know them, German’s don’t. Actually they may not even look at you. BUT, if there is a child with you, I have never seen them hesitate to stop and talk to or say something to the child, regardless if the child is a stranger or not. Even if they didn’t say anything to me, they would say something to the child with me. In general I believe they really care about children. Another difference between American’s and Germans is the use of “Please” and “Excuse me.” These are not words that are used when German’s are stepping in front of you or reaching in front of you etc. They don’t necessarily believe in the idea of standing in line in the order you entered it; they won’t hesitate to step in front of you.
返信削除These were just some of my experiences with Germans. At the time I would think some of them rude and wrong, but I understand now they are just different. You know what they say, when in Rome…do what the Roman’s do! It is their culture and to attempt to acclimate to it is, I feel, the right thing to do not to mention it’s a great learning experience.
In my town we have a large population of somolian immigrants. going to school and being in classes with them has made me understand more about their culture. their language differnce makes communicating difficult and getting messages across harder. having to really listen to what they were saying has improved my communication skills.
返信削除I have traveled to multiple countries in Europe and have also been to Belize and Bequia. Traveling to these countries has opened my eyes to the different cultures in different parts of the world. I noticed in the Caribbean area, the lifestyle was very laid back and slow-paced. Even though Belize and Bequia are third world countries, the people there seem to have more positive attitudes than even Americans. These two trips made me more relaxed about life coming back to the States. And while I was in Europe, it was almost funny how much I realized the American culture is very distinct-even if our ethnic roots began in countries in Europe! Outside the language barriers, I also noticed in all of the countries I have visited the cultural norms and rules, and even different behaviors. Men are more touchy feely in Belize and Bequia, and strangers act like family in Italy! I can't wait to visit more countries and learn more.
返信削除I have not had to face cultural differences much in my life which is weird for me to say. I do enjoy, however, learning about other cultures and experiences when people like yourself come to America and face such different meanings. Perhaps I am more understanding of other cultures because of my desire for fairness for all. What I mean by that is that we all share a common theme no matter where we come from and that is we are humans above all else. When my hometown, which is small, had an influx of Hmong immigrants settling there, I can remember the insensitivity that was displayed. I was embarrassed that I had come from such a place that in which so many people felt threatened because of their lack of knowledge. I know they still struggle with that to some extent and it bothers me.
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