Culture Shock? No, Culture Surprise!

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When you hear the phrase "culture shock", what kind of images come to your mind? Many people automatically think about the many gaps that exist between Japan and foreign countries. But, as my Osaka story shows, there's also such a thing as "local culture shock".

One day, I was crossing the street somewhere. Suddenly, from behind me, a stranger yelled out loudly: 「姉ちゃん、何しとんねん! はよ、しいや !!!」

I felt like I was on another planet, or at least in another country! Of course, I was only in Osaka. Just a few short hours away from Tokyo by train. But please try and imagine how shocking this was for me!

I couldn’t understand what was happening. Who was 「姉ちゃん」? Was that me? And why should a complete stranger yell at me in an angry-sounding way? Did I do anything wrong? Was there going to be a fight? Should I say my final prayers?

Today I will talk about “culture shock”. There are two reasons why I chose this topic for my speech today. First, a friend of mine recently moved to Fukuoka from Tokyo. Her husband’s company transferred him to Kyushu. And she is worried about the culture gap.

My second reason is even more important! There are many people in Japan who view “culture shock” as a negative thing. Is this because Japan is an insular nation? Do we needlessly suffer from 島国根性 here?

I hope that my speech today can lift my friend’s spirits, and also help get rid of her negative feelings about “culture shock”.

When you hear the phrase “culture shock”, what kind of images come to your mind? Many people automatically think about the many gaps that exist between Japan and foreign countries. But, as my Osaka story shows, there’s also such a thing as “local culture shock”.

Well, what do you think the biggest difference is between Tokyo and Osaka? The food? The baseball fans? The comedians? These are all great examples! But I think it’s the language.

People living in Osaka — from here on out, I’ll refer to them as “Osaka-jin” — speak in the Kansai dialect. It is called “Kansai-ben” or “Osaka-ben” in Japanese. Kansai-ben has an unique intonation, and many peculiar expressions, which are entirely different from T okyo dialect! I think Kansai-ben must be the MOST shocking dialect in Japan, especially to the ears of  shy Tokyo-jin, because it sounds like Osaka-jin are always angry!

Speaking of this language gap, I have another story about Osaka. One morning, I was in Osaka. I overheard some Osaka-jin having a loud chat in a crowded train. I guessed that they were probably office co-workers.

Well, I was shocked by three things!

First, how quickly they spoke! I thought that they were non-Japanese, because I could NOT understand a word of what they were saying. On top of that, it sounded like they were quarreling with each other. Second, why were they talking so loudly in a packed commuter train? In Tokyo, if we did the same thing in the same situation, everyone on the train would give us  cold stares. Third, something about their tone, or the sound of their shrill voices was really unpleasant to my ears. It sounded like someone was scraping their fingernails across a chalkboard.

Such experiences in Osaka caused me to have a huge negative feeling of culture shock at the time. But later on, something changed. I started to think about an important question: How can I overcome such culture shock?

Of course, there is a lot of ancient wisdom dealing with this question.

Two proverbs come to mind: One is “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” In Japanese, 「郷に入っては郷に従え。」The other is “Where ever I hang my hat is home.” In Japanese 「住めば都。」

These proverbs may contain the trigger we need to overcome negative culture shock! Why? Because they show that humans adaptable and flexible by nature. So I think that we can overcome culture shock if we leverage our natural abilities!

How can we do this exactly? I have two proposals for you.

First, we need to simply increase our awareness of the various lifestyles and different ways of thinking throughout the world. After that, we need to try to accept these differences and values in other people. We should also expect that they will do the same thing for us by accepting OUR differences and values.

Second, why don’t we just try and change our minds? Instead of automatically judging the gap between two cultures as negative culture sock, why don’t we try to think of it as positive “culture surprise”? Yes, culture surprise! Celebrating our differences can be fun, if we have the right frame of mind. All we have to do is change our minds, and we can completely change this situation!

If, because of culture shock, we don’t enjoy and value the culture gaps that we experience, then we will miss the chance to know or experience many diverse attractive cultures.Our lives will be limited.

But, if we can instead create and enjoy culture surprise, we will widen our knowledge and broaden our universe. Culture surprise will also increase our chances to enjoy unlimited possibilities!

I’d like to challenge you all to join me, and try the following actions: Let’s be open-minded and willing to try and understand other cultures, no matter if they are close, or very far away.

For example, if you have a chance to live in another country, or a different REGION of your own country, or whenever you come in contact with non-Japanese people, please introduce your culture to them! This is the first step towards understanding.

I stand here today as a living example of a person who has experienced and overcome culture shock. So, now I can look forward to many positive surprises in my life!

I have many Kansai-jin friends who have a BIG influence on me. They are very open-hearted, cheerful, and positive! I would like to follow their example!

Finally, I have a confession to make in front of all of you gathered here: I love Osaka very much! 「めっちゃ好きやねん、大阪！」

Thank you for your kind attention!

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Mayflower英語教室

週末は英語漬け!

http://msoe.jp/