06/23 - Wa, Gaman, Mistakes and Experience
This is mostly a copy of my project from my independent field trip this weekend.
There are very many cultural lessons, analyses, and even shocks within. Mainly,
I was able to witness core Japanese characteristics in a very real setting, not
only that but also how innate they are. Secondly I offended someone by accident
by making what in retrospect was a pretty crude joke, however, I didn't even think
about it. Both of these lessons are very solid and will probably last forever
because I experienced them instead of just reading about someone
else's experience.
Intro
The short trip we took to Tokyo on Saturday and the events that followed were absolutely full of important cultural lessons, some, unfortunately, unpleasant. Some things were even probably what I would classify as "culture shock," which I don't think I've felt until now. Moreover, I feel ever more attuned with what I learned through experience this weekend than with anything I've ever learned from reading a book or going to class. While certain concepts about a country can be grasped simply through scholastic study, culture can only be understood and retained - both requisite to a full learning of something - through experience. Most importantly perhaps is the fallout that can occur from simple misunderstandings, I dare say I saw how some wars might have begun. I had two different experiences that exemplify a few core characteristics of Japanese culture.
Harmonic Group Management
First, seeing a group of 7 American students with varied interests and 3 Japanese students trying their best to care for everyone showed me harmony, cooperation, and "bearing it" at work Unfortunately, it was mainly through their absence and the Japanese students' best attempts at establishing them that I saw these traits. The singularity of the answer to the timeless question of "what we should do?" creates more tension as the number of people affected by the decision increases. The reason for this tension is that each person has their own interests, and a decision involves comparison and contrast of those interests. Therefore a large group will have a large number of interests, and the larger the number of interests the more opportunities for the intersection of those interests, aka conflict. Japanese people are far less individualistic, far more group oriented than Americans, so that increases the constraints too. We eventually come to the time to make a decision, and the amount of consideration necessary to make a good decision has increased exponentially from all of these different factors. Aside from the fun we had, and I know we all had some fun, we went so many places so many people didn't want to go, did so many things people didn't want to do, and heard a lot about it, but only from ourselves, not Japanese students. The Japanese students have never once complained or even come close to voicing any distaste with our decisions on where to go or what to eat, etc, and they even have said "we always just what to do what you guys want to do." That saying, that sentiment, when true, embodies wa, embodies gaman, embodies Nihon.
Offensive Wit
Second, having what would be a harmless joke to American friends deeply offend someone heavily confirmed what I had been told but had not experienced. It seems like common sense that comedy is difficult to express in a foreign language and I was even told by an experienced interviewee of mine that the top mistake made by foreigners is their futile attempts to be witty. Specifically to the US, there is a lot of "black humor" that even disgusts some of its own citizens, but that is very popular and very funny to most young people. But aside from that, learning what's funny to a different culture is an infinitely more complex than learning just what's acceptable. From the experience I now have a very different outlook on humor. I now feel like the only real acceptable time to try to be funny is when my sole intent is to come off as an idiot. For serious issues, even the most faintly serious ones, including friendship, family talk, business, love (flirting too, unless you flirt by being an idiot), and school, attempts at wit are best avoided. I think that if you look at a language as a staircase, understanding comedy is alone at the top because it has both difficult cultural and linguistic components. Without years, maybe even decades of experience in a foreign place, one cannot expect to be perceived as anything more than an idiot when trying to express wit there.
Conclusion
So I felt shocked when I witnessed group dynamics I had never seen before and extremely shocked when I hurt someone dear to me by being culturally inconsiderate. If I had been told about these two things before the trip, I still would have done them because without experience I cannot apply knowledge to actions. Now that I have experienced them though, I'll both easily know what to expect in similar situations in the future and of course, not make the same mistakes I made. Lastly, I witnessed all of this happen on a natural level. The cultural characteristics of Japanese people, or any person of any culture for that matter are passive - they don't even think about them when behaving. Seeing that and how serious, unbendable, and true they all were profoundly increased my understanding of Japanese people and profoundly increased my appreciation for our student partners.