And how do foreigners greet you? - Like aaaaah
I freeze like "Wow English!"
It's embarrassing but I am happy.
Hey guys and girls on Ask Japanese it's Cathy Cat. In Tokyo there are now many foreigners
but it's different on the Japanese countryside. This time we are gonna go head out to Iwakuni
to ask the Japanese people there what culture shocks they
have experienced. Let's go and Ask Japanese.
During class our teacher would play a tape
and the foreign assistant teacher
would dance to the tape. She looked like she had so much fun.
In Japan do you suddenly dance?
We really don't. - What music was that?
What was it? One Direction's "What makes
you beauty" - And your foreign teacher was into it.
Different to Japanese people, foreign teachers are so friendly.
They come and talk to me a lot. - How?
When we meet in the school hallway we just say hello.
But the foreign teachers ask us what we are doing,
and lots of other things. - Having a longer conversation. - Yes
When they talk to you, how do you feel? - It makes me happy
The greeting of our foreign teachers is different to
our Japanese teachers. So cheery.
What is the normal Japanese school greeting like?
Good Morning. Like this "Good Morning."
And then the foreign greeting?
Good morning!!! - How does it feel differently?
The Japanese greeting is very formal.
If we don't greet properly we get told of. But foreign teachers
they are so fun and friendly to us.
Yeah right.
In Iwakuni we have a US military base
which gives us the chance to meet many foreigners. Many Japanese
just take standing pictures. Foreigners pick up leaves of the ginko tree
and do pictures from the side and similar.
They take different photos here.
They see things that Japanese people
don't see. They set it up and take a lot of pictures.
We sometimes meet the kids from the US school
A Japanese primary school is strict on starting times
by the minute. But the US kids have more freedom
there. - The rules and strictness is different. - Very much so.
We have to understand that. First we were surprised but
we realized that is just the way other countries are. I hope by understanding this
our children will learn life skills for the future.
So Iwakuni gives kids a chance to meet other cultures. - They can learn things
because we are close to the foreign cultures here.
The food that I ate at my exchange
was very shocking compared to what we were used to.
Taste wise. - Where did you stay? - Australia. - What did you eat?
Vegimite. - That's the yucky one!!!
Haha. - I was the only family member that couldn't eat Vegiemite...
They made me a tuna sandwich instead. - That is...
ok. Don't worry. Vegimite and Marmite are foods that are loved or hated
by people. - My host family said this is a normal food for everyone.
But the tuna was tasty everywhere I ate it. No matter the culture.
It was good. - I lived in Hawaii for 3 years.
When I went shopping I was surprised to see
in Japan we have to pay exactly but there, next to the register
was a little donation box of 1 cents. If it wasn't exact and you missed a cent
the cashier would take one from there. - didn't have to be by the cent.
Yeah uneven numbers would always work out. That wouldn't work in Japan
In Japan you would have to take one item out of the shop or similar
in order to match. But there if it wasn't enough there was a way
One or two cents were ok - That's so kind of them though.
Kind. - Also since they are island dwellers...
They were really relaxed about things. Busses would disappear - Disappear?
What? - There is a GPS app for busses but sometimes
the busses would disappear from the GPS
"Oh the bus disappeared. Let's wait a little longer" we'd say. - What??
Instead of waiting 10 more minutes the bus would vanish? - It would say "not in transit"
and be gone. No wayyy!! That happened a lot
I am not sure if it was the driver's mood or what. - Time for his lunch or what
something. - Maybe that was it.
Foreigners are...
really trying to speak in Japanese to us. Japanese...
are generally like "oh sorry". Foreigners are good at talking
Japanese. - We try talking? - Yes you try speaking our language. That's great
Japanese are too shy? - We'd say "Don't speak Japanese...."
wait "Not speak English..." like that
I think it's good foreigners try it more when asking for the way
they will say "sumimasen" and speak Japanese quickly. But I will...
freeze and say things like "go straight"
I can't speak. - If foreigners try to speak Japanese...
you will react in English? - True. I will freeze
"Wow English!" Like that. - I once went to a resort
and there were many different people drinking at the bar.
The DJ there was playing a Rhapsody song...
Queen's - I know! Bohemian Rhapsody! - YES!
Suddenly everyone stopped talking and sang along!
I sang a little too. - Wow. Japanese people feel free to join too?
Not sure... Generally not. - I wasn't a good singer either
I might just do a little. - Yeah somewhat - but not everyone together
I was surprised to see women who wouldn't shave all their hairs
So here everyone shaves their arms?
Well a little now maybe. - It's winter so you get away with it?
Does everyone shave? - In Summer everywhere. - The arms? - Arms too.
Foreigners don't shave their arms.
So arms and legs and all, you are busy. - We are. Bath takes a while
haha. - How often do you shave? - Every second day or third.
about that. - Since you have school uniforms, you start
shaving at school? - Yeah.
Foreigners, more so than Japanese
seem to be able to frankly talk with people. I like it,
Things like "Let's take pictures?" - Yeah foreigners
Foreigners don't seem to care so much about being like others
I think. - Do foreigners often ask you for pics? - They do.
How do you feel? - It's embarrassing but it makes me happy.
But how about sneaky pics. - No yeah that happened the other day.
We wish they would ask first. - Yeah.
Foreigners seem to know more about Japanese culture
than some Japanese people. - How so?
What do foreigners know? - Well
They know about horseback archery and things that Japanese
don't know much about anymore.
Some Japanese don't show much interest in this anymore
Foreigners seem to know what they want to know
Foreigners seem to enjoy Japanese culture. - And show so much interest
in Japanese culture and take part in it
They try to put themselves into it more.
Foreigners try to go to further places when they can
Japanese go to short trips or simple return trips
But foreigners go further away if they can
Their traveling span is longer compared to Japanese too
They travel bigger and further away I think
I think. - How did that make you feel? - I want to travel more now too.
Haha. - Germans will go through Italy and then to Spain or
Portugal. - What was your culture shock? - Foreign women are pretty
I respect that. - Germans are pretty
Russian women are so pretty. The older I get the prettier they all look
Haha. - I will go to India next year.
There are rich people but also people who are poor
In Japan we have balanced society and normal live-style
but when I went to India I saw things like...
killing animals and such... - really? - Yeah...
Thank you for your opinion. That was all.
Today we filmed in Iwakuni which is in the west of Japan in Yamaguchi prefecture
It's famous for the historical wooden arch bride called Kintaikyo and at
any time of the day and in any season, people come here to visit
Iwakuni also has beautiful scenery, a Japanese castle, several museums
and some local delicacies
I also made a Vlog about it so be sure to check it out. I hope you enjoyed this video. Don't forget to click
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catch you soon here from Tokyo with Ask Japanese. Bye.