Special Feature on Girlfs Talk
Marina Suga (Faculty of Letters, 4th Year, U. S. A.)
On January 21, 2010, we
gathered a group of exchange
students from Korea, China,
United States, and Hungary
and had an endless discussion
on various topics such as girlfs
fashion, marriage, and likes
and dislikes of Japanese boys.
We started off the
discussion casually by talking
about ordinary
fashion in
each country. As for hair
color, the shade of black was
most common in Korea and
China. There was a phase
when dyed and bleached hair
was popular, but nothing can
beat the traditional Asian
image of straight, black hair.
DoGi Kang from Korea
explained how she was
surprised to see the majority
of the girls in Japan with
dyed hair. gIt seems as if the
only time they have their
hair black is when they have
job hunting,h says Kang.
That is most likely true, but
another reason may be
because many Japanese girls
have a childlike face. It
doesnft help that they are
also more petite compared to
girls in other countries, which
tends to give them an image
of cuteness. In the United
States and Hungary, there
are more varieties in hair
color. While most people
keep their own natural color,
there are people who like to
change their image by
challenging a different color.
The most common
transformation would have to
be blonde to brown or vice
versa. There are also cases
where people dye their hair
to dark colors including
black and funky colors such
as red and green.
In case of
make up, there
was clearly a difference.
While most girls in Korea
aimed for natural make up,
girls in China wore close to
none. On lazy days, girls
from both countries stated
that they would wear hats so
others wouldnft notice that
they werenft wearing any
makeup. In Hungary, most girls have their eyebrows
plucked and have them
tattooed. Punk rock styles
such as black makeup, hair,
and clothes seemed to be
popular within teenagers.
American girls are somewhat
similar but they tend to
accentuate one feature of
their face. On a typical day
at school, one may wear
some eyeliner and on a fancy
date, one may brush on some
mascara and bright red
lipstick and youfre good to
go.
The way people
dress is
most likely different for each
country, but there seemed to
be a similarity. Everyone
nodded to the fact that their
outfits revolved around
t-shirts and jeans. But of
course, outfits differ in each
season. While Korea and
China may require sweaters
and coats in the winter,
Hungary and some parts of
the United States may only
need thin knits and jackets.
Also, outfits are chosen
wisely by occasion. When itfs
the time and place, we step
up our outfits too. Since we
agreed on the clothing styles,
we shifted the discussion to
girlfs fashion in Japan. Ifm
not sure if its just Doshisha
University but the girlfs are
fashionable. Their outfits are
so nicely coordinated that it
makes a jeans and t-shirt
outfit seem overly casual.
They dress well, but there
are few things about their
fashion that turns our head.
For instance, a tank top over
a t-shirt and jeans under
skirts. We canft help but
think, gWas the extra layer
of clothing necessary?h It
would be interesting to hear
what the Japanese had to say
about foreignerfs fashion too.
As for
marriage, there
were a few customs and
opinions that clashed with
others. In Korea and China,
men must be fully prepared before proposing or the
women wonft agree to marry
them. The men in Korea
must have furniture and
other household equipments,
while the men in China must
have a house ready
beforehand. There is
something similar in Japan,
but the women were the one
that needed to prepare things
before marriage. In the
United States, both men and
women are not obligated to
prepare things ahead of time
and most purchases are done
together. By looking at this,
the position of men and
women in each country was
evident. Since the women in
Korea and China are
somewhat stronger than the
men, they hold a different
opinion towards the life after
marriage. The majority of
them preferred to continue
working after marriage and
wished for the men to help
out around the house. They
explained how much of a
waste it would be to throw
away a career after trying so
hard to achieve it. Not only
the women in Korea and
China, but women in other
countries too are choosing to
work after marriage. It may
be because of the poor
economy or because they
wish to keep their
independence. Hence, the
image of leading men is
beginning to slowly fade
away.
To switch to a lighter
topic, we asked about some
popular
desserts in their
home countries. Tteok, which
are delicious rice cakes from
Korea have different fillings
such as red bean paste, nuts,
and honey. Most Korean
desserts are healthy and are
made with nutritious
ingredients. There is also Su
Jung Gua, which is a sweet,
ginger flavored drink with
dried persimmon and pine
nuts. Even though there are
many desserts, girls would
rather skip those calories and
stick to coffee. Nian Gao,
also known as sticky cake is
a traditional dessert in China
that symbolizes a rich life.
They are filled with dried
fruits and can be steamed or
baked. Zeen Doy, also known
as sesame seed balls are also
delicious. They are filled with
red bean paste, rolled in
sesame seeds, and then fried.
Chocolate cake, apple pie,
and brownies are high on the
list of American desserts.
Brownies are rich and moist
chocolate cake often sprinkled
with nuts. Itfs a plus that
these desserts can be made
easily by purchasing mixes sold in supermarkets. A
traditional Hungarian dessert
is TuLroL Rudi, which is a
chocolate bar filled with
cottage cheese. It doesnft
sound like an appealing
combination at first, but
youfll be hooked once you
taste it. There are also
various selections of ReLtes,
which are strudels with
toppings of sweet cottage
cheese, cherries, apples and
etc. The list of desserts
continues but wefll let you
explore the rest on your own.
As much as girls love to
talk about make up and
shopping, we are unstoppable
when it comes to the topic of
boys. The girls skipped their
introduction of the boys back
at home and went straight to
the pros and cons of
Japanese boys. In the case of
fashion, there seemed to be
more negative comments than
positive ones. Many of them
remarked about the leggings
that are worn under shorts
and pants. If you thought
leggings were only for girls,
think twice. They have
recently come up with
leggings that come in handful
of colors and designs, which
allow one to express their
individuality. I donft know if
they wear them to stay warm
or to be fashionable but we
all agree that itfs best if you
pass on the leggings. But on
the other hand, skinny jeans
were approved. LinTing Shi
from China stated, gI wonder
if guys wear them to show
off how skinny they are.h
Maybe, maybe not. Either
way, it doesnft hide the fact
that most Japanese boys are
skinny. It shocks me how
some boys are skinnier than
girls. It wouldnft hurt to add
a little bit of meat to these
boys.
But whatfs more important
than looks is
personality. No
matter how drop dead
gorgeous a guy may be, if he
has an awful personality, the
relationship wouldnft go well.
The majority of the girls
liked the fact that Japanese
boys were quiet and nice.
They may not necessarily
follow the gladies firsth rule
but they show a fair share of
politeness such as offering a
ride to the train station after
dinner. However, they stated
how there are times when
they canft read what their
thinking. I understand that
boys in general do not share
their feelings but compared
to boys in the United States
and Hungary, they seem to
be on the bottom of the list.
Sadly, wefre not psychic so it
would help if boys
communicated better with us.
For instance, if we ask what
you feel like eating for
dinner, donft just say
gwhateverh or gitfs up to
youh. Itfs fine if youfre really
up for anything, but if you
actually have something in
mind, it would be easier on
the both of us if you spoke
up.
As for
manners, who pays
for dinner? In Korea and
China, it is quite the norm
for the guys to pick up the
check. Even if itfs a casual
lunch with a friend, most of
them offer to pay. As envious
as that may sound, in the
United States and Hungary,
the paycheck is usually split
in half and each pays for
their own meal. But Katie
Seno from United States
stated that there are times
when the boys pay for group
dinners to show off to the
ladies. We donft expect for
the guys to pay every time,
but it would be nice if they
offered the gesture. In most
cases, itfs the thought that
counts and girls just simply
like to be pampered from
time to time.
While opinions on manners
may be split into two,
dating
and relationships differ for
each individual. Overall, it
seemed like the couples in
Korea communicated the
most. The majority of couples
keep in touch throughout theday by either texting or
calling. It may be after they
wake up in the morning or
just to ask what they are up
to. There are some cases in
Korea where couples talk on
the phone while watching
television. Some people might
think this is too much, but it
may be nice for a couple in
a long distant relationship. In
China and the United States,
they arenft as lovey-dovey
but they do enjoy calling
before they go to sleep. I
have to admit, it is nice to
hear the voice of a loved one
before drifting off to sleep.
They also seemed to have
interest in Japanese dating
scene. While there may be
couples who constantly keep
in touch, there are also
couples who barely text/call
and only meet few times a
month. But this is a very
rare case and is not the
Japanese standard. JeongHoon
Lee from Korea stated, gHow
can you be okay with seeing
your boyfriend only few
times a month? If I were in
this situation and told my
friends back at home, they
would question my relationship.h
But there must be
reasons why some couples
canft see each other that
often; long distant relationships
perhaps? In these cases,
I think its rather safe to talk
on a normal basis to make
up for the time they canft
spend together. However, not
all couples fall under this
category and there are
couples who manage to make
things work and have a
happy relationship. As most
people already know,
relationships are challenging
in every country. Ifm no
expert but I think the key to
a successful relationship is to
find a partner who youfre not
afraid to be yourself around
and to have good
communication with one
another.
It was interesting to hear
different opinions on
numerous topics such as
girlfs fashion and Japanese
boys. Even though it might
have seemed like the foreign
girls only held negative
outlooks on the boys, one
must understand that they
come from a different
environment and that it has
only been a short period of
time since theyfve been in
Japan. As an international
exchange student myself, I
know how difficult it may be
to accept the differences at
first. But I do believe that as
time goes by, these girls will
come to realize the good
traits of Japanese boys.
Photos in this page are quoted from the following HP.
gGetty Imagesh http://girlsforacause.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/clothing-exchange/
gFree-Extrash http://www.free-extras.com/search/1/holding+hands.htm
gBest Wedding Ringsh http://cheap-wedding-favors.blogspot.com/2008/08/best-wedding-ring.html
gForever 21h
http://www.forever21.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=FOREVER21&category%5Fname=dress&product%5Fid=2072549223&Page=2&pgcount=100#
