Setting right perceptions

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I recently posted some videos on here of some Japenese girls doing aerobics in order to help them learn English. It got me wondering: What do they expect when they come to an English speaking country if the phrases they are taught are 'Please spare me my life' and 'Hasta la vista, baby'?

So, I was wondering, what are YOUR perceptions of different countries? Are all Americans backwards? Do you think the French realy smell of cheese? Do the British stop everything at 3pm to drink tea? And is it true that German children are born clicking their heels?

This is not an excuse for anybody to have a pop at someone else's culture (although I know there are people on here who won't be able to resist - and if you can't then don't bother posting). Tell us what you think a country/people is like and let's see if some records can be set straight!

 

I lived in Japan for nearly 2 years, and so I think that my perception of them is a bit better informed than the average joe.

In Japan, conformity and order is still paramount. There are trends growing that are fighting that, but overall, it is a regimented society. This is best expressed by using the senpai / kohai relationship in schools.

Older students (senpai) have as much authority (albeit unoficial authority) over the younger students (kohai) as have the teachers. In terms of social behaviours and such, the water truly runs downhill. I've heard rumors that some teachers even use the senpai to dispense discipline. I haven't seen that firsthand.

Overall, the people are clean, neat, orderly, and respectful. Fringe elements are tolerated, but they are not welcomed into society -- be normal or stay home and be weird out of sight, as it were.

When it comes to English, they want to learn stuff that they don't get from their schools. They want slang -- badly. They love watching American movies and then going around saying "Eff eff Eff eff Eff eff...." It's kind of funny, as they would never dream of saying something so filthy in their own language where other people could hear it.

I'd love to go back and live there for about 10 years, but then I'd want to come home.

 

An interesting note of recent; I have a friend taking a world education class and he started talking to me about the school system in Japan. [He was writing a paper, comparing the intellectual test-scores of various countries]. He said they have many strict-vocational schools and are kind of 'fitted' into what they will do for the rest of their life based on how they do in a "high school" setting. Which he concluded lead to them applying themselves more readily to school, and actually wanting to become involved in the learning process, since it would effect the remainder of their lives.

Whether or not this is true or not, I do not know (so perhaps LKD can expound upon if he has any insight into Japanese education). However, my perception on the education of young-children in Japan before this conversation was that it was similar to American schooling. [In that it doesn't really matter until you get into college/uni] It's pretty interesting to look at how nations evolve and preform in different areas.

(AFAIK, the most common method of marriage in Japan was still the arranged marriage until about 1950. That's a very foreign concept to a lot of Americans, or is at least perceived to be 'ancient' in non-third world countries.)

 

My information on Germany is a few decades old, but it comes from an American and a Brit who lived there for years and even got married there. They both say that the German sense of humor is... off. Almost non-existant to be precise. They apparently translated Star Trek litterally, without any attempt to adjust cultural references, and delivered the lines coldly. The culture was also very rule-bound and role-firm. The difference between du (informal you) and sie (formal you) could mean being fired from your job for rude behavior, and going to a first-name basis in a friendship was an official act.

That may have only been a piece of the culture, and/or it may have all changed since then. I don't know.

 

Mrs. Chandos taught English in Tokyo for 1 year and she has remarked that she had little to complain about regarding the students. The one thing she has commented on often, is the sense of community that even in large cities, the Japanese have. And she has told me several examples of how this works out in their soiciety. But just as an example, she has commented more recently on is that foreclosed homes were harder to sell, at least a that time, because many Japanese familes believed that it was dishonorable to take advantage of someone else's misfortune, and would not often consider a foreclosed home for their families. Fat chance of that ever happening here.

 

LKD, I once heard that in Japan, if someone finds a lost mobile phone in, say, the park, they'll hang it from a tree or something so that if the owner comes back they'll find it easily, rather than keep it for themselves.

Any idea if that's true?

 

I have seen people doing it in Poland. The 'thieves' stereotype, sadly, is mostly true, so I doubt the phones were returned to their rightful owners.

I often visit the Netherlands, and while a few months is not a long period of time, it is sufficient to make a certain observation. While the country is famous for the LGBTQ tolerance (and rightfully so), it would be a simplification to believe that each and every homosexual citizen is openly gay or lesbian. Some families or social circles still attach a stigma to that, hence not everyone is 'out of the closet'.

By the way, a question connected with Sweden. I have met quite a few citizens of this fair country while on 'living history' events. They struck me as really polite, nice and tactful. Is the majority of Swedes like that, or was I just fortunate to make such acquaintances?

 

Yup, we are all awesome! Or what you call polite, nice and tactful others could call stand-offish or aloof and it would be true as well I guess.

 

Sorry for the brief sidetrack, but while I know what "LGBT" stands for, I have never seen a "Q" at the end of it. What's the Q for?

 

The Q usually stands for "questioning" although some references use "queer".

 

My perception of Eastern Bloc countries is that anything considered "new" there is probably about 25 years old (or more). I base this on a tour I took of Europe after University (1982); when we went to Czechoslovakia, we looked in the window of an appliance store, and I swear everything for sale looked like it was from the 50's.

 

You were there in 1982, so everything that was "new" at that time would now have to be at least 28 years old.

 

Small wonder, considering that the country had been a socialist republic since 1960. BTW, remember McCain's faux-pas?

And yes, the 'Q' stands for 'queer' (id est, a person identifying as either androgynous or undifferentiated). I have heard and read quite a few activists adding this letter to the known abbreviation, and thought it fitting.

Joacqin, well, good to know!

Oh, and another question. I have met many Russians, but only during social occasions (therefore, the presence of alcohol was perfectly normal). Do they really drink so bloody much, or is it yet another myth?

 

So queer is no longer viewed as a derogatory term? I thought calling someone queer was similar to calling them a faggot. Not so?

 

Apparently not. It looks like some people in the community decided to embrace the term, therefore depriving it of it's previously pejorative character.

 

I think it was Jeremy Clarkson on Meets The Neighbours who said that The Netherlands was a country of opposites. Yes, we are liberal on average, but there are still a lot of people against gay marriages, relaxed drug laws, prostitution and euthanasia. Now you might think that the further away you get from big cities like Amsterdam, the less liberal people become. This is partly true, especially in the Dutch Bible Belt. But even in the bigger cities, young people with Muslim-like backgrounds often vigorously condemn gays.

I think queer is generally accepted. I would have no problems calling my gay friends queer and they would probably see it as just another synonym for gay.

This reminds me of an anecdote a friend told me once. He works for an international company and needed to call a German colleague/supervisor/can't remember. His (German) assistant answers the phone so my friend asks for Mr. Bach (probably not his name, but the first German name that popped into my head). So the assistant says: "You mean Herr Doktor Bach." To which my friend replies: "Yes, Mr. Bach." To which the assistant again says: "No, Herr Doktor Bach." Stuff like this would probably never happen in The Netherlands, we don't put much emphasis on titles, and using mister and madam is considered polite enough. But taking it to the other extreme, I heard that in Sweden, nobody puts mister or madam in front of a name to address a person.


And since we were on the subject of Japanese: when I think of Japan, I think of something like this:

 

Hmmm.... So they use both "Herr" and "Doktor"? Like, if I were a doctor in Germany, I'd be Mr. Dr. Idiot? That seem rather redundant. In the US, I'd be just Dr. Idiot, and most doctors don't mind people who don't know them well referring to them as Mr. That said, some doctors I met are a-holes, and when someone calls them Mr. Whatever, they correct them to Dr. Whatever.

 

You are correct, titles are not used in Sweden. Pretty much everyone is on a first name basis with everyone. The only people that are somewhat exempt is the royal family.

 

Funny you should mention that, I just read this the other day.

If it were Christians or Whites doing this, there'd be an uproar. But Muslims? If we mention it, we're prejudiced against Muslims. Sheer lunacy.

Corrected, tks Aldeth, you nit picker you!

 

Is it really possible to be "racist" towards a religion? Last I checked people of all different races were Muslims.