One of my students has a brother who lives in San Diego. He has gained 15 kg. (33 lbs.) in two years due to eating American-size meals. I suggested that he not eat everything he is served and prepare his own food more frequenlty, but she wasn't having any of that sort of crazy logic. No, it was the American food that was the problem, not his laziness about cooking or inability not to gobble
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est cultural differences. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est cultural differences. Afficher tous les articles
mardi 15 novembre 2011
Won't Miss #387 - whining about American portions
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
One of my students has a brother who lives in San Diego. He has gained 15 kg. (33 lbs.) in two years due to eating American-size meals. I suggested that he not eat everything he is served and prepare his own food more frequenlty, but she wasn't having any of that sort of crazy logic. No, it was the American food that was the problem, not his laziness about cooking or inability not to gobble
vendredi 21 octobre 2011
Random Thoughts: The Big "E's"
Posted on 08:00 by Unknown
Some time ago, I attempted to have a dialog with someone whose experiences in Japan and opinions as a consequence of those differences were rather different than mine. The exchange ended at an impasse because it was clear that we would never agree. It wasn't that there was fundamental disagreement, but we couldn't settle even on a basic structure on which to reach conclusions.
As an example
vendredi 19 août 2011
Random Thoughts: Relativity Theory
Posted on 03:00 by Unknown
Sometimes I have thoughts about living in another culture which I'd like to incorporate into blog posts here, but due to the format I have chosen, I can't really flesh them out effectively in any brief individual post. Rather than simply keep them to myself, or worse, forget about them entirely, I've decided to occasionally make a "random thoughts" post. This will be the 1000 Things equivalent to
mercredi 9 février 2011
Won't Miss #286 - one with the borg mentality
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
A sign encouraging everyone to carry their own bag rather than use plastic ones - note how they all follow each other, and look, and act the same.
There was a big flap several years ago about Brazilians living in a particular apartment building and their inability to get along with their Japanese neighbors. They weren't unfriendly. They didn't do anything criminal or fail to follow some rules.
There was a big flap several years ago about Brazilians living in a particular apartment building and their inability to get along with their Japanese neighbors. They weren't unfriendly. They didn't do anything criminal or fail to follow some rules.
mardi 11 janvier 2011
Will Miss #275 - seeing your culture through new eyes
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
Uncle Sam may appear to be hung and slumped dead over that sign, but he's really hawking tacos and American beer.
There was a series of books published by Tuttle which is no longer in print called "The Adventures of Max Danger." In the second book of the series, the introduction talks about the perspective of an old Japanese woman who said that Americans are "big people...who believe their
There was a series of books published by Tuttle which is no longer in print called "The Adventures of Max Danger." In the second book of the series, the introduction talks about the perspective of an old Japanese woman who said that Americans are "big people...who believe their
lundi 27 septembre 2010
Won't Miss #237 - "inscrutable culture"
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
There is a notion that Japanese cultural concepts (and the underlying psychology) are too sophisticated for outsiders to comprehend, so most Japanese people won't even try to explain certain ideas to curious foreign folks. Frankly, I can tell you this is a crock. Many Japanese people can't explain Japanese cultural concepts for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the inability of
mardi 14 septembre 2010
Will Miss #232 - valuing cultural pursuits
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
A sign offering piano and electone organ lessons.
The prevailing attitude in the U.S. when it comes to education is that it should be in the service of earning money. In particular, people believe that you should spend your time pursuing only those things which will advance your career. This is one of the reasons that people hold liberal arts degree holders in contempt and have a higher regard
The prevailing attitude in the U.S. when it comes to education is that it should be in the service of earning money. In particular, people believe that you should spend your time pursuing only those things which will advance your career. This is one of the reasons that people hold liberal arts degree holders in contempt and have a higher regard
Posted in attitudes, cultural differences, Japanese education system, skills, will miss
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lundi 2 août 2010
Won't Miss #211 - archaic notions about gay men
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
A T-shirt worn by a young man serving food at a summer festival in Tokyo.
Many Japanese people have outdated ideas about what gay men want or are like. Many of them believe that gay men want to be women, and that they dress up and act like women. They think that some of them hate women because they view them as "competition" and that you can discern a gay man from his movements, speaking style
Many Japanese people have outdated ideas about what gay men want or are like. Many of them believe that gay men want to be women, and that they dress up and act like women. They think that some of them hate women because they view them as "competition" and that you can discern a gay man from his movements, speaking style
Posted in attitudes, cultural differences, gay men, homosexuals, sexuality, won't miss
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dimanche 11 juillet 2010
Won't Miss #200 - lack of cultural sensitivity
Posted on 00:16 by Unknown
The flip-side of the previous post about a lack of political correctness is that there is also a lack of cultural sensitivity in Japan. The same attributes which stop Japanese people from overreacting and applying hysterical political correctness to certain words or issues fuels their lack of understanding about what can be seen as or is an offensive portrayal of people from other cultures.
mercredi 16 juin 2010
Will Miss #186 - safe, really fresh eggs
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
Often I read women talking about their eating habits in America and they mention eating things like "egg white omelets" or "egg beaters". If you told the average Japanese person that Americans toss out the yolk or eat substitute eggs, they'd think you were mentally deficient. Japanese people love eggs, and they eat them in a variety of forms including raw. Because eggs are so important in their
lundi 14 juin 2010
Will Miss #185 - architectural accommodation
Posted on 00:15 by Unknown
Sometimes there are cultural difference clues right in front of you, and you either don't notice them or understand what they mean. Take the design of the house in the picture above. You can see that it has a third floor with an extreme slope such that the room at the top is quite small (and certainly oddly shaped). The reason for this is the focus on sunlight in Japan is very high. Everyone has
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