The theme of our project is depicting love scenes in different cultures, e.g. Japanese culture vs. U.S. culture.
A few days ago I went to a Ramen restaurant with two of my Japanese friends, and we talked about this. Last night I joined a Japanese gathering party and gathered more information. Unfortunately, as I expected, the more information I get, the more confused I am. I always suspect culture's role in determining people's behavior in this modern era. Except certain customs like the very unique Valentine's Day in Japan, I think approaching women/men per se really depends on the character of the actual actor in the scene.
What we can do in this podcast, however, are stereotypes of cultures. What we can make out of it, of course, is a comedy. What we can learn learn from this project, therefore, is to laugh.
In terms of what "communication" means to me, well, I learn Japanese because I need to read Japanese papers and to know Japanese scholarship in my field. For now, talking in Japanese is not of big concern to me.
A few days ago I went to a Ramen restaurant with two of my Japanese friends, and we talked about this. Last night I joined a Japanese gathering party and gathered more information. Unfortunately, as I expected, the more information I get, the more confused I am. I always suspect culture's role in determining people's behavior in this modern era. Except certain customs like the very unique Valentine's Day in Japan, I think approaching women/men per se really depends on the character of the actual actor in the scene.
What we can do in this podcast, however, are stereotypes of cultures. What we can make out of it, of course, is a comedy. What we can learn learn from this project, therefore, is to laugh.
In terms of what "communication" means to me, well, I learn Japanese because I need to read Japanese papers and to know Japanese scholarship in my field. For now, talking in Japanese is not of big concern to me.
Your project topic is very interesting! I went to a lecture where the Japanese professor said that there is actually no exact word for "Love", they just say things like "do you want to make dinners with me everyday?" or so...
返信削除ziyao-san, this is a cogent response to the topic. I liked how you use a concrete example to illustrate your point. Since I am also a member of your potcast group, I think your cautioning against making generalizations on cultural image and representation is a really valid one and should be taken into consideration while we conduct our project.
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