I love Japan. When I see traditional Japanese culture, I am impressed by the delicate feelings and the subtleties of human nature. When I was in middle school, I learned about Manyoshu and Kokinwakashu, which are one of the oldest tanka poetries in Japan. I still remember the deep emotion. The beauty of nature, love, seasons, and coincidental moments in our daily life cut, and words are formed into syllable patterns of 5-7-5-7-7. They sometimes used rhyming words and metaphors to deepen the meaning. What a beautiful culture it is to have ingenious words of seasons and nicety feelings included in songs to introduce emotion and love. The smart, playful, delicate heart of ancient people can’t help to be admired. I love Japan because of this. But I don’t disdain cultures and histories of other countries. All countries have their own culture, language and historical background, which have been made by the people. It is impossible to choose which culture or custom is good because all cultures are civilized by fatalities. The original culture was formed by doing so as much as possible. The people who have peremptory overpowering power that lived in the area charged the cultures with prayer, pleasure, sadness and anger. The beauty of the culture sometimes brings emotion. When I saw the Notre Dame Church in France, I was in awe because the decorations made by the Christian culture were beautiful and grand. The cultures the people made for long time were all characteristic and beautiful.
But when you meet a person who has a different culture from yours and experience cross-culture, perhaps one feels surprised rather than impressed. The questionnaire actually shows that the general students answered, “I was surprised that” and so on. I examined the questionnaire and had similar opinions with Zhou. I felt the questionnaire showed how unconscious Japanese students were. Many students stated that they were surprised but there were only few who explained further than that. It’s a waste to take in different cultures by being surprised and confused. I was also concerned by how few Japanese students distinct goals. But on the other hand, international students often had a definite vision of their future. For example, one may say, “I will start a business at a certain year!” and “I want to do this!” That type of low consciousness may possibly come from the original Japanese culture that wasn’t controlled by other countries and that gave the right.
When one meets a person who has a different culture, they may see something different about the culture. Like I said earlier, Japanese students have low conscious towards cross-culture. It may be difficult to believe, especially if one have only exchanged with Japanese people. Through different culture experiences, once may see different culture, people, and may discover something about yourself. You may recognize and understand the differences between others and also understand yourself through this.
What you find may be respectable, but I hope you feel “consciousness” by reading this article.