Tagged With: Cultural Differences
Follow the Crowd
I’ve been reading a lot of about “groupism” and “the follow the leader syndrome” in Japan and it’s all sort of mind -boggling. I was reading, for example, that this ice cream company in Tokyo actually hired people to form lines in front of their stores. And even though it was in the middle of … Continue reading
Teacher Barbie
I tend to treat my private lessons with my Japanese teacher like therapy sessions. I’ll tell her about how one of my student’s is abusing me. I’ll show her the bite marks and the bruises and share horror stories involving chalk dust thrown in my eyes and markers hurled at my head. And then I’ll … Continue reading
Are Americans ‘Bad Friends’?
I’m often the token American in a group of friends, which means I frequently field questions about the inner thoughts and motivations of the “typical American”. This is tough because one, I’m not a typical American, (the fact that I’m writing this from Japan is proof of that) and two, I don’t know what a … Continue reading
Are Japanese Children "Just Shy" Or Is It Something Else?
Some of my students don’t talk. At all. At first I thought they were just extremely shy and I tried to be patient with them. I figured they only needed a little time to warm up to me. So each week, I’d spend the 50 minute class having a conversation with myself as my five … Continue reading
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