culture clashes
*WARNING* The following is a rant and may contain 1. stereotyping, 2. generalisation, and 3. light bashing of Americans and Canadians *WARNING*
CONTENTION
Ok, so as most of you know I am Scottish-born Australian and I currently live in Japan.
When you think living in a foreign country the term "Cultural Differences" comes up quite often. But really, the fact that you have recognised you are living somewhere with a culture different to your own should be enough to keep you aware and able to avoid any major disasters. Thus in the year I have been here I have had pretty much no trouble at all... with Japanese people that is.
Generally speaking, compared to Australia, Japanese people speak a completely different language, look different and dress differently. In short I look at Japan and Japanese people and think "DIFFERENT! I must watch out for that!"
Conversely, compared to Australia, Americans and Canadians speak essentially the same language, look the same and dress the same. I look at Americans and go "SAME! Nothing to worry about there!"
...and here we find the problem.
America and Australia are NOT the same, the culture is not the same, the values held by the people are not the same and finally the unspoken rules of how people are supposed to interact, react and form/hold relationships with one another IS NOT THE SAME!!!
BACKGROUND
There are 3 things that Australians quite like to bring up in conversation and they generally go in the order of how close the participants feel towards each other as friends etc...
1. Complaining... From complete strangers onwards
Complaining about the weather or the state of the economy or your boss or anything at all is an excellent conversation starter. It gives everyone something to talk about, makes the other person feel better about their situation and/or can become a one upmanship war of how 'bad' you have it when really theres nothing to complain about at all. Pretty much we just like to bitch.
2. Insulting eachother ...new co-workers, new friends onwards
Good-naturedly insulting or teasing someone, usually just after theyve done something wrong or silly. Or just for no reason at all is pretty much a sign of affection to an Australian. Most of the time, this one is so second nature we dont even realised we're doing it.
3. Arguing for the sake of arguing ...closer friends, people you've known for a while onwards
When an Australian starts an argument with you, its not that they dont like you, or that they think you're opinion has no merit, or even that they are trying to convert you over to their way of thinking. THEY JUST WANT TO HAVE AN ARGUMENT! At the end of the argument (or the beer) the Australian will still be your friend and will probably still disagree with you, and maybe even next time you meet up will bring up the same argument again to see if you have any new material. To an Australian, an argument is a form of verbal entertainment, its not something that should be taken personally, its a way to pass the time and quite fun the drunker you get the odder the rebuttals can become.
THE INCIDENT
So there a couple of girls that I occasionally go to concerts with. They are friends of an Australian friend and are Japanese-born Canadian and American respectively. We live in different parts of Japan to Ive only met them a handful of times, but we've shared hotel rooms and Ive known them about a year now.
What happened to start the incident was that in a Facebook with the Australian friend I referred to Japanese Pop Music with the general acronym "Jap Stuff"
The Canadian replied to this comment and told me to "stop using the word 'Jap' as it is a derogatory and racist term akin to the 'N-word'"
Now, while to her 'Jap' may be a derogatory term, but to me its an acronym Ive been using in almost daily vocabulary since I was eleven and started Japanese classes at high school. In addition, the "N-word" also doesn't register as derogatory for me either for the opposite reason, its barely in my vocabulary at all. Black Aboriginal Australians were, and in some places still are, referred to as "Black fellas" and even then that nomer is not an intentionally derogatory as Caucasian people were generally referred to as "White fellas". Add in the fact that there really were very few black people at all in the area where I grew up (it was more Italians, Greeks and Filos), the insult that some people feel with those words just doesnt register with me.
But that's besides the point. Someone Id known for quite a while had essentially just told me, communications major, language obsessed, currently bilingual going on trilingual me, to stop using a word... 0.0
...in my world that was the perfect opening for a no holds barred argument!
In hers it wasn't.
RESULT
I remember just before I came to Japan the 2nd time for a university exchange been told BY A CANADIAN about her experiences in Australia and how long it took her to realise that the people in her work place did actually like her even though they insulted her daily and kept trying to start arguments with her at work gatherings.
I'd actually been TAUGHT this, all be it 5 odd years ago, but it was my fault in forgetting I suppose.
Of course the reaction to my opening gambit was akin to if I had knifed her, an entirely personal reply full of actual hurt and offense. AND she brought the American into it. Backup is sooooo against the rules!
I know I should apologise and get it over with, but already theres a rebuttal to both of their arguments growing in the back of my brain already. Living in a non-English speaking country has left me debate starved it seems. Im also tempted just to leave it, I really dont want to say sorry for something that is, at its root, a cultural clash. But, from their point of view its a racism issue and I know Im going to have to see the both of them again eventually. There are only so many people to go to cons with.
CONCLUSION
DONT TRY TO TROLL CANADIANS / AMERICANS, IT DOESN'T WORK!!!
...on a nicer point, I saw U-Kiss today! Soooo much awesome and cute!!!
CONTENTION
Ok, so as most of you know I am Scottish-born Australian and I currently live in Japan.
When you think living in a foreign country the term "Cultural Differences" comes up quite often. But really, the fact that you have recognised you are living somewhere with a culture different to your own should be enough to keep you aware and able to avoid any major disasters. Thus in the year I have been here I have had pretty much no trouble at all... with Japanese people that is.
Generally speaking, compared to Australia, Japanese people speak a completely different language, look different and dress differently. In short I look at Japan and Japanese people and think "DIFFERENT! I must watch out for that!"
Conversely, compared to Australia, Americans and Canadians speak essentially the same language, look the same and dress the same. I look at Americans and go "SAME! Nothing to worry about there!"
...and here we find the problem.
America and Australia are NOT the same, the culture is not the same, the values held by the people are not the same and finally the unspoken rules of how people are supposed to interact, react and form/hold relationships with one another IS NOT THE SAME!!!
BACKGROUND
There are 3 things that Australians quite like to bring up in conversation and they generally go in the order of how close the participants feel towards each other as friends etc...
1. Complaining... From complete strangers onwards
Complaining about the weather or the state of the economy or your boss or anything at all is an excellent conversation starter. It gives everyone something to talk about, makes the other person feel better about their situation and/or can become a one upmanship war of how 'bad' you have it when really theres nothing to complain about at all. Pretty much we just like to bitch.
2. Insulting eachother ...new co-workers, new friends onwards
Good-naturedly insulting or teasing someone, usually just after theyve done something wrong or silly. Or just for no reason at all is pretty much a sign of affection to an Australian. Most of the time, this one is so second nature we dont even realised we're doing it.
3. Arguing for the sake of arguing ...closer friends, people you've known for a while onwards
When an Australian starts an argument with you, its not that they dont like you, or that they think you're opinion has no merit, or even that they are trying to convert you over to their way of thinking. THEY JUST WANT TO HAVE AN ARGUMENT! At the end of the argument (or the beer) the Australian will still be your friend and will probably still disagree with you, and maybe even next time you meet up will bring up the same argument again to see if you have any new material. To an Australian, an argument is a form of verbal entertainment, its not something that should be taken personally, its a way to pass the time and quite fun the drunker you get the odder the rebuttals can become.
THE INCIDENT
So there a couple of girls that I occasionally go to concerts with. They are friends of an Australian friend and are Japanese-born Canadian and American respectively. We live in different parts of Japan to Ive only met them a handful of times, but we've shared hotel rooms and Ive known them about a year now.
What happened to start the incident was that in a Facebook with the Australian friend I referred to Japanese Pop Music with the general acronym "Jap Stuff"
The Canadian replied to this comment and told me to "stop using the word 'Jap' as it is a derogatory and racist term akin to the 'N-word'"
Now, while to her 'Jap' may be a derogatory term, but to me its an acronym Ive been using in almost daily vocabulary since I was eleven and started Japanese classes at high school. In addition, the "N-word" also doesn't register as derogatory for me either for the opposite reason, its barely in my vocabulary at all. Black Aboriginal Australians were, and in some places still are, referred to as "Black fellas" and even then that nomer is not an intentionally derogatory as Caucasian people were generally referred to as "White fellas". Add in the fact that there really were very few black people at all in the area where I grew up (it was more Italians, Greeks and Filos), the insult that some people feel with those words just doesnt register with me.
But that's besides the point. Someone Id known for quite a while had essentially just told me, communications major, language obsessed, currently bilingual going on trilingual me, to stop using a word... 0.0
...in my world that was the perfect opening for a no holds barred argument!
In hers it wasn't.
RESULT
I remember just before I came to Japan the 2nd time for a university exchange been told BY A CANADIAN about her experiences in Australia and how long it took her to realise that the people in her work place did actually like her even though they insulted her daily and kept trying to start arguments with her at work gatherings.
I'd actually been TAUGHT this, all be it 5 odd years ago, but it was my fault in forgetting I suppose.
Of course the reaction to my opening gambit was akin to if I had knifed her, an entirely personal reply full of actual hurt and offense. AND she brought the American into it. Backup is sooooo against the rules!
I know I should apologise and get it over with, but already theres a rebuttal to both of their arguments growing in the back of my brain already. Living in a non-English speaking country has left me debate starved it seems. Im also tempted just to leave it, I really dont want to say sorry for something that is, at its root, a cultural clash. But, from their point of view its a racism issue and I know Im going to have to see the both of them again eventually. There are only so many people to go to cons with.
CONCLUSION
DONT TRY TO TROLL CANADIANS / AMERICANS, IT DOESN'T WORK!!!
...on a nicer point, I saw U-Kiss today! Soooo much awesome and cute!!!