For your next post, please write about either: a) your own experience of being treated differently because of your gender, at school or elsewhere, or b) what you've heard about the situation in Japan through news stories/ brief Internet research.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
J-Gender Issues
According to the textbook, until 40 years ago there was a lot of gender discrimination in the USA. Although the situation has improved, it still exists to some extent day.
No one who follows the news can possibly be in any doubt that there are serious gender discrimination issues (against women) in Japan still. To what extent, and in what ways is a subject you can think about.
For your next post, please write about either: a) your own experience of being treated differently because of your gender, at school or elsewhere, or b) what you've heard about the situation in Japan through news stories/ brief Internet research.
For your next post, please write about either: a) your own experience of being treated differently because of your gender, at school or elsewhere, or b) what you've heard about the situation in Japan through news stories/ brief Internet research.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
J-Subcultures
In our last reading from the main textbook, we encountered the term "subcultures", of which Japan has many. What subcultures spring to your mind when we talk about modern Japan? Otaku? Bosozoku?
Please write your next post about just one (any J-subculture), including information on things such as the clothing, attitudes, interests, behaviors, gathering places, and character of typical members etc. Also, what's your opinion of them? Would you enjoy spending time with them? Why?
Please write your next post about just one (any J-subculture), including information on things such as the clothing, attitudes, interests, behaviors, gathering places, and character of typical members etc. Also, what's your opinion of them? Would you enjoy spending time with them? Why?
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Mango Street: Part 2
Pages 12-25 show Esperanza's early days in her new neighborhood. She meets lots of interesting characters, and experiences or sees or couple of memorable incidents.
How about your neighborhood? Describe IT, and the people in it. Are /were there any memorable characters living near you? Try to tell an unusual or funny experience you had there while growing up.
How about your neighborhood? Describe IT, and the people in it. Are /were there any memorable characters living near you? Try to tell an unusual or funny experience you had there while growing up.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Socialization
The textbook mentions how we are socialized by our families, schools, and peer groups. For your next post, please give some examples of how you've been socialized by one (or all) of these social units.
How did your parents raise you? What values did they teach you (and how)? Can you remember any cases where you were disciplined by your teachers? Why? What happened? etc
As a foreigner, I was surprised to hear about how much responsibility schools have to take in the upbringing of children in Japan. In my culture, parents are the ones who take ultimate responsibility for the way their children behave. It seemed to me that parents in Japan expect too much of schools. The "monster parents" that Japanese teachers sometimes talk about are pretty scary. I also remember a case a few years ago when a Kansai University student died because he fell off a balcony in Osaka somewhere because he'd been taking drugs, and the university president had to appear on TV and apologize for Kandai's "mistake". Unbelievable! (for me).
How did your parents raise you? What values did they teach you (and how)? Can you remember any cases where you were disciplined by your teachers? Why? What happened? etc
As a foreigner, I was surprised to hear about how much responsibility schools have to take in the upbringing of children in Japan. In my culture, parents are the ones who take ultimate responsibility for the way their children behave. It seemed to me that parents in Japan expect too much of schools. The "monster parents" that Japanese teachers sometimes talk about are pretty scary. I also remember a case a few years ago when a Kansai University student died because he fell off a balcony in Osaka somewhere because he'd been taking drugs, and the university president had to appear on TV and apologize for Kandai's "mistake". Unbelievable! (for me).
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Comparison to Esperanza
Luckily, my life hasn't much resembled Esperanza's. I didn't suffer such poor conditions as she did, even though conditions were very basic on my family farm. The nearest neighbours lived a couple of kilometers away, so there was no problem with them. I did feel a little lonely at times because I was the "mistake" at the end of the family, and we lived in isolation. Of course I went to school every day and had friends there though. My father seemed a bit cold, and I had a bad relationship with him in my teens, and longed to escape home (like Esperanza). He was strict because (maybe like Esperanza's father) he never had a chance to go to high school, and wanted me to "succeed" in life (which meant "study hard and get a good job"). However, our relationship improved over time. Now that he's dead, I sometimes wish he could visit Earth again and see his grand- daughter in Japan.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Japanese Culture
Welcome to your class blog. This is where most of your "journal writing", worth 30%, will take place. I may sometimes ask you to write something or answer questions on loose leaf in Monday's class.
As we noted in the last class, culture includes everything that people of a particular group are socialized (that is,trained by families, schools etc) to do, think, use, and make. I asked you to reflect a little on your feelings about Japanese culture.
Please write about aspects of your culture that you feel proud of, and others which you find a little tiresome, or out of date.
In my case, I feel the good points of Japanese culture outweigh the bad (otherwise I wouldn't have lived here for 20 years!!). I appreciate the punctuality and efficiency found in businesses of all types (especially trains, as I have to use them a lot), and the convenience of having so many shops nearby and open until late. I also enjoy the bathing culture, in sentos or rotenburo or onsen. I especially like riverside rotenburos in the mountains. Japanese food of all types is great, and I think it's a good idea to have several small plates on the table from which we take small amounts. Nabe parties are fun too. Dinner can seem like more of a shared experience here.
On the downside, I don't like the amount of noise pollution in Japan (needless announcements everywhere, politicians in mini-vans touring neighbourhoods, screaming their names into mics, and horrible muzak in supermarkets and shopping streets (I live near one). Do you know what muzak is? I think Japanese get used to a lot of noise, and don't notice it. The number of perverts (chikan) here is shocking too. 65% percent of Japanese women report having been attacked at least once, which is a shameful statistic. I'd like my daughter to learn a martial art, so she can defend herself in future.
As we noted in the last class, culture includes everything that people of a particular group are socialized (that is,trained by families, schools etc) to do, think, use, and make. I asked you to reflect a little on your feelings about Japanese culture.
Please write about aspects of your culture that you feel proud of, and others which you find a little tiresome, or out of date.
In my case, I feel the good points of Japanese culture outweigh the bad (otherwise I wouldn't have lived here for 20 years!!). I appreciate the punctuality and efficiency found in businesses of all types (especially trains, as I have to use them a lot), and the convenience of having so many shops nearby and open until late. I also enjoy the bathing culture, in sentos or rotenburo or onsen. I especially like riverside rotenburos in the mountains. Japanese food of all types is great, and I think it's a good idea to have several small plates on the table from which we take small amounts. Nabe parties are fun too. Dinner can seem like more of a shared experience here.
On the downside, I don't like the amount of noise pollution in Japan (needless announcements everywhere, politicians in mini-vans touring neighbourhoods, screaming their names into mics, and horrible muzak in supermarkets and shopping streets (I live near one). Do you know what muzak is? I think Japanese get used to a lot of noise, and don't notice it. The number of perverts (chikan) here is shocking too. 65% percent of Japanese women report having been attacked at least once, which is a shameful statistic. I'd like my daughter to learn a martial art, so she can defend herself in future.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Cultural differences
Most of you have spent some time overseas and/or have some foreign friends. I guess there have been times when you've felt a culture gap (i.e. you couldn't relate to someone else's behavior or ideas because of cultural differences). Could you share a story of such an experience as your next post?
In my case, my wife is Japanese, so we often notice differences in our ways of thinking and acting. Actually, it's sometimes hard to know how much of it is because of culture, and how much is due to individual character. For example, one time when we were dating we had arranged to meet at a station at 6:00 and go to a restaurant from there. I arrived at exactly 6:00, and she told me she had been waiting since 5:45. I just said "Hmmm", or something like that, and started walking. As we were moving down the street, I suddenly realized that she seemed angry. "What's up?", I asked. She said that as she'd waited 15 minutes, I should apologize for making her wait (even though I hadn't been late). It was a bizarre idea, but I apologized anyway. Actually, she often wants apologies for things which seem trivial to me. Then I'm scolded for not apologizing "from my heart". Sigh...
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