It's mid-term week. I've had 2 mid-terms and one presentation so far, there are 4 more and 2 presentations to go by the end of this month, followed by another Japanese presentation on August 4. Then, the application forms and study plan for one year exchange program in Japan are due on August 14. I also need to pick 2 Japanese universities out of 18 or so on the list that I want to go to during my exchange year, in case I pass the interview. But I haven't made up my mind on that one yet.
All of those left me nothing but constantly study and work from this project to next, next, and next project.
Like I said earlier, I don't want to complain about it anymore. It's a fact that 3rd year students must work the hardest and, though it's tiring, I suppose I've got used to it. What else can I do but shut up and work?
There's one friend of mine who gets so stressed out about this and life after graduation. I would say she feels, thinks, and suffers exactly like I did last year. The other day we were talking on the phone and she was crying while talking to me and I truly felt bad for her. I don't know why we all, I mean Japanese majors, seem to be put under pressure all the time and don't seem to be happy in what we're doing.
After our Japanese presentations ended on monday, some friends and I came up to our Japanese teacher and asked if we could improve anything with our Japanese because the teacher commented that some of us have such a very, very weird intonation that she was taken aback. She said we are already 3rd year students so she didn't understand why we can't grasp the hang of correct Japanese accent and intonation.
(I answered that one in my mind "That's because we live in Thailand, surrounded by Thai people who speak Thai every day. And the most important thing is, we're not Japanese.")
Anyway, one friend of mine was commented that she looked too aggressive during the presentation which might not be good for her if she would like to be a Japanese translator or work in Japanese companies in the future. Then, the teacher added, a little reluctantly this time, that my friend is too boyish.
What?
Even though I wasn't the one who got criticized, I wouldn't be happy with that kind of comment if I was in her shoes. So what? My friend is boyish and that affects her presentation? I totally understand the aggressive part that it doesn't fit in Japanese society where the concept of humbleness is highly valued, but I do not understand why our Japanese teacher had to criticize my friend's personality.
What's wrong with a girl being boyish? Is this related to the general image of Japanese girls that have to be CUTE and girly in order to be acceptable in Japanese society?
So I told my friend that I'm not really sure if we have to go to the extent of changing our personalities in order to study the language and wondered if we need to sacrifice that much. My friend might have to, though, if she wish to work with the Japanese after graduation.
Honestly, I'd like to have a talk with some Japanese and have them define the meaning of "individuality" and "self" to me. It's something about their cultures that I've never been able to understand.
5 comments:
I know the feeling your friend has since I experience something similar everyday living in Thailand.
I'd prefer boyish to being constantly referred to as farang and pointed at by some of your countrymen!
If you really feel uncomfortable, why not moving to big cities like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, or Phuket? I hardly see anyone here staring at foreigners.
And I can't believe people DO point at you! I thought Thai people are supposed to have good manner!
In Japan, there's very little understanding of 'self.' There's 'family', 'group' (which can be friends, school classmates, work friends, etc.) and then 'nation' but 'self' is basically ignored or very marginalized. Perhaps there is 'self' but it is more defined via the connections to groups.
Please see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_values#The_Private_Sphere:_Goals_and_Self
There is perhaps more to this than you may have initially thought.
Although I have never lived in or ever been to Japan, I had opportunity to know a fairly large number of Japanese and also work closely with them. In my experience the Japanese culture is one of the most complex around and learning it is not very easy. This is, in my view, one of the major obstacles to anyone attempting an approach.
I read with interest the comments regarding the "boyish" - something I believe in the western world would rather be labelled as "bullish" - behaviour of your friend and couldn't help thinking that in all likelihood the comment is more down to male chauvinism rather than anything else. I can't tell how much this problem affects Japan, but it may be a subject worth some researching on your side. The bottom line is that people are who they are and they should be accepted.
However, there is one point that needs considering: public appearance and communication have great impact on how people perceive us. In fact, this is more or less what you started discussing in your previous article. I am not sure if this and the previous notes are related, but behaving and communicating in a way that is friendly to your audience are skills that not everyone have. The good news is that it acn all be learned and applied to everyday life.
Regarding to your intonation, I think you got the point by saying that being a foreigner (from a Japanese perspective) plays a role. But don't forget that the objective of those teaching you is to get you and push you to the highest possible level. In my opinion you should not dismiss those comments and work hard to achieve the goals that have been set for you.
gkanai - Thank you so much for the link! It was really helpful. I actually printed it out and read the whole article and it gave me some ideas about Japanese values.
RDC - Thank you for sharing your opinion. I agree with you that Japanese culture is really complex and not easy in any means. I also understand that my professors objective is to stimulate us to be better, but sometimes some encouragement would be nice. It rarely happens around here.
Post a Comment