Japan and Australia - My intercultural experience

Hello. I'm Itsumi. Today, I want to introduce my experience of visiting Australia in a home stay program when I was 16. I had been to foreign countries several times, but it was the first time for me to stay with a family. It was full of new findings and surprises.
The first thing I realized was that Australian people are very friendly. While I was in school, every student said hello to me and during recess, they willingly showed me around to the schoolyard. When I first met my host family, they welcomed me with a hug. I was surprised because in Japan, we seldom hug even with a family or close friend. Japanese bow instead of hugging or shaking hands when greeting each other. [Another surprising thing happened] one day, when I was in the bus, a girl sitting next to me spoke to me. Instead of noticing my poor English, she patiently listened to me and kept on talking until she got off the bus. We Japanese rarely talk to the strangers in the bus or train, so at first I was surprised but I was happy she talked to me. We use honorific expressions when we talk to senior person, but there are no honorifics in English. This may be one reason for making us feeling that English-speaking people friendly.
Also, Australian people are active compared to Japanese. One day at school, the teacher asked a question in the class. Then, almost every student actively raised their hands and gave their opinion (as Kano mentioned about her stay in Germany). In such a situation, Japanese students are passive. Few people raise their hands and other students are just waiting for the teacher to choose a student.

They may be afraid of making mistakes. It is often said that Japanese people are shy. According to the anthoropologist Ruth Benedict, Japanese culture can be classified a “shame culture” whereas Western cultures are “guilt cultures”. While guilt is an internal moral principle, a sense of shame is ruled by external moral standards. This principle was developed among Japanese warriors who often considered a sense of honor to be more important than their own lives.
Australian people say what they think or what they want clearly. For example, when I cooked Japanese food for host family, my host sister said that she doesn’t like the food. As for me, even when something I don’t like was served, I politely said “It’s tasty.” Japanese people often avoid mentioning our honest thoughts and feelings in order to keep harmony in our communities and societies as a whole. We say what we are supposed to say in any given situation. It is an important rule that is considered necessary to maintain smooth relationships between people in Japan. This stance, however, sometimes causes misunderstandings between Japanese and foreigners, who may find these attitudes dishonest.
There were many other cultural differences between Japan and Australia. For example, we take off our shoes when we enter a house, but they don’t. We eat rice everyday, but they rarely eat rice and their staple food is bread. Japanese bathrooms usually contain an area for washing the body and a separate bathtub, but in Australia, they have only bathtub, and they don’t fill the bath with water. Maybe these customs are not peculiar to Australia, but Western countries have the same customs, too.
I don’t think Australian culture is strange and nor is Japanese. Nothing is right and nothing is wrong. I like both Australian and Japanese nationality. Every culture has different aspects and I think we should proud of our own culture. Everyone is different, and that’s the fun of intercultural communication.
My stay was only three weeks, but I learned so many things. It was pity that I had to come back [so soon]. I only wished I could speak English better so that I could make myself understood. Though I was shocked and confused with the difference of culture many times, I really enjoyed my stay and had a wonderful time. This precious experience opened up new horizons for me.

[Editor's comment: It seems that this experience may have been one of the reasons for Itsumi having chosen this course. Because she appreciated her real opportunity to encounter intercultural communication and valued that chance in Australia, it made her often contribute to the class discussion. Her article here clearly demonstrates that she -- not only gained some important intercultural communication competencies - but her English did benefit even from the short stay in Australia. I think the real value is the increased level of confidence in being able to communicate successfully and meaningful with people from another cultures that makes stories like Itsumi's not only interesting but highly educational. db July 14, 2006]

About Japanese culture

I am Yuko. I am Kitasato University student. Nice to meet you.

I am taking the class to learn foreign country and Japan. But, actually, I do not know about Japanese culture or foreign culture. So, I decided to study it. First, I study Japanese culture. By this, I want foreign people to know about Japan. So here are a few...

Japanese language is very difficult. Because there are many different language to express own mind. Kanji , hiragana , katakana , etc. In addition , there are many ways to express what you want to say. For example, Japanese words be used as I have much. To tell the truth, I mostly use “watashi” . This is most proper expression in any situation for man and woman. As another words, there are 'boku, ore, uchi, watakushi', etc. I think that it is one of the reasons to trouble foreign people [when learning it]. To learn English is very difficult for me , but I think it is more difficult to learn Japanese for foreign people.

This site gives a brief introduction to the Japanese language: http://www.youlearnjapanese.com/

The next examination is about food . Most foreigners are not good at natto. - a type of femented whole soy beans. I think that it seems to be strong smell . And I think that most foreigners do not like sliced raw fish . To tell the truth, I do not like sliced raw fish . Because, raw fish is fishy. So , I can eat if it is seared or boiled . As another way , you can change taste of food by using seasoning . Soy sauces used best with sliced raw fish. A good soy sauce has a big influence in the taste of food.

My third examination is about neighborhood . It is important to take the effort to talk with your neighbors. But, recently, I think that Japanese people do not participate in town councils and other neighborhood activities. I feel Japanese people retire from [interacting with ] other persons. Japanese people are [sometimes] shut in own world. In fact, though I saw my next door neighbor, I do not know a detailed character. Therefore , if something is happened to me , next door neighbo will not save me. So, Japanese people should become more positive to neighborhood . Town councils and local children’s associations conduct such programs as park cleaning , parties and other events. We can learn about your community through such events.

☆Conclusion☆

There are many different things between Japan and foreign countries. So, when you visit another country, you will worry so much. But, I think that many different things means many different [and interesting] findings. So, we should study about own culture and other ones too.

[Editor's comments: Yuko has hit upon one of the most important realizations that come from learning about another culture - -either by studying it as foreign langauge or by living or travelling to another land --It seems she wants us to see that the more we learn about other cultures, the more we come to understand and want to understand our own. Thanks, Yuko, for reminding us all of that wisdom. db]