Culture in the classroom

I have some of my best thoughts and conversations in my one-on-one Chinese class. My teacher really knows what I am interested in, and always asks me what I think about [insert some topic I am really passionate about].

Anyways, we were talking about culture, and I asked her about how cultural impacts learning experiences in the classroom. I was really curious to see what she thought about American students having taught Chinese to many American students. She said that she thought about this topic often because in Taiwan it is unacceptable to hand-in assignments late, but many of her American students frequently hand in their assignments late.

I told her that late assignments was something American teachers found forgivable, and frequently, they accepted some bullshit excuse from the student and provided extensions. I told her despite this being acceptable, showing up late for class, or even more importantly, TEXTING or SLEEPING in class would get you kicked out.

She was kind of surprised by this. I told her that in Japan I was shocked because many students slept in class, and if I did that in an American classroom, my teacher would have me kicked out immediately. Of course, every teacher and every classroom is different, but generally speaking, it is important to pay attention in American classrooms.

I think this might have some relationship with how culture places values on different places particularly in education. I believe Americans very much value oral communication. Most of my assignments and tests in university were based on my ability to present, answer questions, or use material based on my teacher's lecture material(which meant going to class), and not the textbook. However, I feel in Asian society, particularly Japan and Taiwan, the emphasis is placed on written communication, which may be why handing in assignments is more important. Japanese and Taiwanese students tend to really focus on the texts they are provided, more so than Americans.

This same teacher mentioned last week that Japanese students always do their assignments and never ask many questions about the text. I, on the other hand, always come in with questions and ask for clarification on a specific word's usage or grammar structure. This cultural difference really came to light last semester when I had a really hard working Japanese girl in my class. At moments in class, she would not understand what the teacher was saying, but refused to ask for clarification. I asked her one day if she wanted to ask the teacher to explain more, but she said she felt it was disrespectful to the teacher and her classmates because she felt like it was her fault she didn't understand.

I found this type of belief to be held among many Japanese students, they worry their questions will disrupt the class, and will just try to figure it out on their own.

What things are acceptable or unacceptable in a classroom can show a lot about what each person's culture values.

Little Grandmas

What I miss most about to Japan are O-baa-chan, or little grandmas. My favorite time of year in Japan is spring time when the flowers first start blooming. Little grandmas come outside to say hello to the flowers. In Japanese, they say to the first flowers of spring, "Look how beautiful you are, and how hard you worked to get here. Thank you so much for coming out today". I love how little grandmas are so appreciative of the flowers, and how grateful they are for them.

Even if you look like a local

Disclaimer to my last post: Even if you look like a local, you will face some challenges.

When I was Japan, I had a really good friend who was Korean American. She had just started learning Japanese, and at the time only knew basic expressions. One day, I took her to my favorite ramen shop in Hachioji, and when we were giving our tickets (at this particular ramen shop like many others, you pay buy machine and hand someone your ticket), the man asked her what level of spiciness she wanted for her dish. She gave me a look of helpless because at that time she could not understand what he was saying. I told the man she wanted the middle level spiciness, and he suddenly looked at me surprised, and asked if I could read Japanese characters. I told him I was an international student, and that I could read a bit, but wanted to learn more. He then asked me why my friend did not speak Japanese, and I explained she was American. The nice ramen man looked even more confused because he did not understand what I meant by American, so I clarified by telling him her parents were Korean and he was then satisfied. Most people could not tell my friend was American or Korean by the way she looked, and most assumed she was Japanese. A lot of times people just assumed because she looked Asian, and happened to be in Japan, people automatically assumed she must be Japanese. Even when I offered an alternative explanation, the man remained confused because most people when they think of Americans (or at least Japanese people) believe they have blond hair and blue eyes with very pale skin. If you are American, you know this to be simply false, but this is a very alive stereotype in Japan.

During this time, I had a lot of discussions with people who were born and raised in the USA, but their parents were Japanese. They spoke Japanese in their homes, but never really lived in a Japanese community, leaving their language wanting. Frequently, we discussed the various challenges we faced, and my friend pointed out that I was very fortunate. Since I did not look Asian no one ever assumed I could speak Japanese, and they are surprised I can say thank you, but for her, someone who is learning Japanese in the same class, there is an expectation that she should speak fluently, without an accent, and be well-versed in all social situations. Even though she was foreign, because of the way she looked, she faced different expectations.


This takes me back to an experience I had last week. On the first day of class, my teacher asked us to give self-introductions. In my class there is a girl from Japan and  Korea, and both of them speak fluent English after studying Canada. During introductions, I said that I had lived in Japan and speak Japanese so reading Chinese characters isn't that difficult, but speaking is still hard for me. My teacher exclaimed how smart I was for being able to speak Japanese, but did not have the same reaction for my two classmates who both speak fluent English. Frequently, it is expected that one be able to speak English, but not for one to speak another foreign language.

I want to get back to the experience of Asian-looking persons, and their experiences in Asia, even those who were born in Canada, United States, and other English speaking countries and the types of challenges they face when they come back to their parent's or grandparent's home to fully learn their mother tongue, or if they decide to go to a a new country and learn a different Asian language. A lot of times, that community is extra hard on them because they believe they should be able to fully understand what they consider to be their mother tongue, even though a lot of them have only spoken English their whole lives.

The point is, while living abroad in Asia, all of us come across certain streotypes, but the question is how we deal with this. How do we address these types of beliefs?

More on that in a later post.

You look like you speak English

Today, I spent my one on one class reviewing a verb form in Chinese that means to seem like, or look like. My teacher gave me lots of examples, using my experiences from Taiwan and Japan as a basis. We covered a lot of interesting topics including how Taiwanese and Japanese people perceive foreigners. She asked me if Japanese people thought I was American when they see me. I told her no, they usually could not tell where I was from because I don't have blond hair or blue eyes. In the past, when I spoke Japanese they could usually tell that I was American because of my pronunciation, but now they can usually tell I lived in Tokyo by the way I speak.

 I told her I once had a Japanese person tell me that they didn't think I was white or black, but they weren't sure what I was. Maybe it's less offensive to say that in Japanese, I'm not really sure. Despite people not thinking I am American, they still expected that I speak English. If you are a foreigner in Japan, people usually think you don't speak Japanese and that you only speak English. This was quite difficult for a lot of friends of mine who couldn't speak English at all, but spoke Japanese fluently. I remember how many stares we would get from Japanese people when we used only Japanese to communicate. It was also frustrating when Japanese people would talk about me on the train assuming I could not understand what they were saying. On more than one occasion, I told them I could perfectly understand what they are saying, and they frequently got embarrassed and apologized.


My teacher then proceed to ask me about my experiences in Taiwan. She said a lot of people probably think I don't speak Chinese or Japanese. I told her about an experience I had on Friday night with my friend who is Japanese and American. If you look at her she probably does not look Japanese, but she was raised in Japan, and speak Japanese fluently. That night we were with two of her other friends, a Japanese girl and a Taiwanese girl, so we all spoke Japanese together. Two Taiwanese guys stopped us and asked us why we were speaking Japanese, or really how could we speak Japanese. My friend explained she was half, and that I had lived in Japan. To them, we just look like foreigners and it amazed them we spoke Japanese.

It is interesting to see how Taiwanese and Japanese people feel about foreigners and their ability to speak a foreign language. I may look on the exterior like a foreigner who only speaks English (whatever that looks like), but then when I speak Japanese or Chinese, people are surprised. I have to say they are less surprised in Taipei, maybe because more and more foreigners speak Chinese, and Taipei is very Western-friendly city, but it makes me wonder what assumptions people make based on our appearance, and why they make those assumptions.

In America, most people assume everyone speaks English fluently, or at least should. How come this isn't the expectation abroad in Asia. Usually, the expectation is that you don't speak the language of the locals. If you any thoughts or experiences, please feel free to share!

The Strokes of Life

Recently, I went back to Japan for a four-day weekend with some friends. It was the first time I had ever had a true tourist experience in Tokyo, and as such, we decided to go to a traditional tea ceremony. Despite having lived in Tokyo for over a year, I never really felt like a tourist there. Regardless of how many times I practice seiza, sitting on ones knees with a straight back, I never get used to it. More importantly, I want to talk about what our guide first told us about the tea ceremony. She talked about how a fresh flowers based on the season were always displayed, as we well a new piece of calligraphy, an artistic expression of Japanese characters. For that particular occasion, the woman had selected a scroll featuring the character for life at the very top. She explained in Japanese, no matter how long you live, how much you do, that character will always be greater than you and your life. 

Imagine that, one character that encompasses all aspects of life as well as every living creature's life, that one character with every stroke is greater than your entire life. I have since thought about what that woman said everyday since. No matter what we do, who we are, how long we live, what we experience, that character will always have greater meaning. I find this both humbling, and inspiring. It's as if that one character contains so many different lives, every way of living, being, and seeing that has existed and will exist, all in one character. It as if your life becomes a part of every other living being's life, and in this idea, I found great comfort. 

This blog will be an exploration of cultural boundaries, in-between places, and getting lost in-translation, but more importantly all the many ways we see life and choose live it. I will explore values, philosophy, culture, mind-sets, expectations, and interpretation, all for the greater purpose of understanding what living means and how all are lives tie to that single character for life.