japan travels..

This was made by a good friend of mine here, Joe. I did the same thing on my way here from Tokyo to Kyoto, but he’s made his clip into a video thats amazing to watch~

This is from Nagoya to Kyoto and shows the city and countryside of Japan.

When I was studying Business Communication back in Sydney Australia I learnt of the concept of culture shock, studied it and used it in the exam. At the orientation meeting prior to coming to Japan they warned me of culture shock. But what is culture shock and how come it didn’t affect me?

Culture shock to me is basically what it sounds like. The shock of realisation where one notices that the way of life is different in the culture they are in rather than where they came from. And these differences begin to affect the person as they try to deal with them. An example would be me going from my Australian culture of touch, inividualistic, polychronic to Japan, where touching is strange, it is ok to think of others and things are done one at a time to ensure correctness. If I were to experience culture shock it would be me feeling depressed because of these changes and missing home. Sure I missed home, but I also love it here. Small customs are different, such as:

The was a purchase in Tokyo whereby they asked if I wanted it wrapped as it was raining outside. Taken from my facebook, this was the moment I realised I wanted to live in Japan. This small custom of wrapping the bag in an an extra plastic wrap to keep the rain out, made me realise the little efficiencies of Japanese culture. It made me smile.

So then I also got to thinking… maybe I didn’t experience much culture shock as I grew up with both Australian and Chinese culture. Because I was exposed to many similar Asian culture characteristics I probably have a more open minded view on the Japanese customs. I would take things in and not judge them in relation to my own Australian culture.

For example a friend of mine once came up to me almost in tears about how she wanted to change from homestay to seminar house. She said that while she loves her host little sister, one day she woke up to find her sleeping in the same bed next to her. She said it scared her, and that maybe the little sister was a little wierd. I gently explained to her that in Asian cultures, crawling next to someone and sleeping with them is not wierd. She was probably trying to express her comfort around my friend. But my friend, an American girl who was not used to the Asian cultures at all, saw this only as a wierd, strange occurance.

Its been awhile, thought I would update. Today in class we watched a CNN program, Miss Universe 2007 introducing her Tokyo. It made me wonder what I would say about my own city. Before coming to Japan I felt like I was stuck in a rut in Sydney, I had just gotten back from Brisbane and fell in love with that city for its bright and happy community and flown into Sydney, a city full of jaded people who in my opinion, are corrupt and would only think for themselves.

One major difference I have noticed, is the individualistic characteristics of Sydneysiders compared to the collectivist Japanese society. For example, following the 2001 Terrorist Attacks on USA, Spain and Bali, Sydney Rail, the train service in Sydney decided that to reduce the chance of terrorists leaving bombs or anything in train station bins, they were to get rid of all the trashcans in all train stations. Everyone thought it was a joke, until the day came where there were no more trashcans at any train stations. So.. this resulted in trash at the station, EVERYWHERE, on trains, on platforms outside.

The first time I got on a train in Japan was in Tokyo. I went from Ikebukuro to Harajuku to shop (of course) and as I looked around for a trashcan, I could not find one. I was so shocked to find that the trains were, spotless. The station was also spotless.

It is this that makes the differences between an individualistic society and collectivist society stand out. In Sydney its rush rush, as it is in Tokyo, but in Sydney people usually dont care about others and if its convinient for them, theyll throw the trash on trains. In Japan, its considerate to think of others. This is the type of society I want to live in. I was getting sick of Sydney and was petrified that I would become like a normal Sydney-sider. My driving already mirrors that of one (I have major road rage), and  I was so worried that I too would become uncaring of others.

So this blog has become a huge rant about Sydney. I admit I do feel abit of homesickness, especially when I think of the different places Id go usually or when Id have a coffee on campus here and think of my own university back home.. But for now, Japan is my home. And I will be so sad to leave.

  taken from flickr. This is a Sydney train.

Toyko Metro. The trains were new, on time and clean!

I passed the tennis courts at Gaidai, and heard people screaming and shouting. I look up and see a tennis match going with many many Japanese students standing outside cheering.

In Australia, and the Western cultures, cheering like that would be hushed immediately in a tennis match.

However. Then one guy scored (haha I don’t know what its called in tennis okay-) and he yells out- “COMEEE ON!!!” LOL. Aussie homesickness right there. Go Leyton Hewitt LOL.

“Typhoon # 13 is approaching Kyshu currently and it is expected come close to the Kansai area on Friday. We will apply the guidelines about canceling classes . “

Typhoon warning.
In Australia earthquakes and typhoons never happen, all we ever get are droughts in the summer which leads to 4minute showers and water conservation.

The Japanese think that if classes are cancelled due to typhoon it means a day of sleeping in and no school.
Me tho, I’m scared.

So have been debating this question quite abit in class lately, did a group assignment titled “What is culture?”. My group members and I decided to fold the poster paper into a crane (I guess to represent different cultures?) and draw our ideas of culture. Our ideas of culture:

*Nationalities
*Currencies
*Religions
*Time
*Food
*Flags/Countries

And then on another level, the rising culture of technology and large scale corporations such as Macdonalds, Starbucks and IPOD.
In my home university, I once took an intercultural communications course, and each student was asked to present something about their own culture.. which got me thinking about my own. I was born in Australia but have Chinese parents, and I follow many of their Chinese traditions as well as many Australian traditions. So I did my presentation on Chinese food and culture, to me, then, culture meant nationality, tradition and beliefs, however many students got up on the stage and spoke about religious culture, gay culture and the moving mobile culture (family members of those in the army), which was extremely enlightening.

So what is culture? I dont know. Culture. is another word for differences. When something is different, we immediately group it. And to me, culture is nationality, religion, way of life. Its difficult to define, so lets see what wikipedia says culture is:

“CULTURE generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can be “understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another”…

HMMMm..

But here are some pictures of the assignment, presenting it and the final product.

drawing the flags

The final product

And these are some pics I think represent culture:

And us, cultures from many sides of the world, all come together to try and adapt to the one culture.

Hello my lovers,

I’ve changed my blog from angela0908.livejournal.com to this one because there are no ads, and a friend I met over here recommended this blog.

Tomorrow marks one week officially in my seminar (dorm room) and I begin classes on Monday after having orientation this week. LOL

So much has already happened, but it is sooo hot here.

Tomoro I officially have a day off, so I shall post more pics!

Had kyoto tour today, I fell in love with Tokyo last week. This week, today.. I fell for Kyoto.

xoxo