Hi Everyone,
I have enough nearly completed articles to put together a first edition. If you have done edits for the articles from last week, please go to the Writeboard to do them before next week. Password is writing12. Even if not, please feel free to suggest edits.
Lessons I Have Learned (Masaru)
Between Two Cultures (Hongxin)
What a Day! (Max)
Customs and Traditions (Natalia)
My Experience about Cultural Difference (Ruth)
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Lesson I Have Learned
“I heard you guys do everything upside down”
When John, my first boarding house roommate, said to me, I smiled at him. Japanese people drive cars on left hand, use saws by pulling toward you, wave hands when saying good-bye, and cry for sorrow at the graduation party. Yes, it seemed the other way around for John, isn’t it? One time, tired of Western meals, I cooked noodle soup and sucked in my noodle with a big noise. Everybody laughed at me, and then we had a big argument. In Japan, some type of noodle you have to make a noise to get a better taste even if it is a cold one, and to make noise is an appropriate manner. For me, Western people do everything the other way around, I thought.
Cultural differences make people puzzled but as long as you can observe from the outside, you will find the reasons why they act that way. The real trouble will occur when you encounter a different way of thinking, especially the time you try to do good for others.
In Japan, whenever you are moving, you distribute some items among neighbours such as food coupons, boxes of chocolate or invitations to restaurants .It is a custom even nowadays. Forty years ago, I came to Vancouver with handful pearls which my friend gave to me as souvenir. I gave out some of them to my co-workers. They were delighted. At that time, I made a good friend named Andy who took me every Saturday to vocational school with his car, so I gave a pearl to his wife. Andy thanked me. After finishing school, he invited me for dinner at his house. I still had a dozen pearls at home so I handed them to Andy to make a necklace for his wife.
“Masaru, don’t do it. I can afford to buy necklaces for my wife!” His face showed a slight anger and sounded with embarrassment.
Difference of custom sometime leads people in confusion and dismay, but once you understand that there is always another point of view on everything, you can learn different aspects on human, life and culture. The pearl have taught me to respect another person’s pride for sure.
Second draft 379word
Blogger Hongxin Guo said...
My Home Town
My home town, Peking,is a famous cultural city in China. Our community is one of the cultural area in Peking.
In the east, a famous commercial boulevard stretches along the central axis of Peking. Many theaters and cinemas locate there. The unique "cultural avenue" is only a block away in the north from our community. The well-known troupe of Peking Opera and The national corps de ballet are in the south. It was such a lovely place to live.
All of the shops at the Cultural Avenue sell antiques, books, Chinese stationery and Chinese music instruments. Every item is connected to traditional cultural, so it was named after "cultural". Most of the shops deal with curios. The buildings are typical Chinese. The shops are quaint, bright and clean. Each exhibits their unique antiques as a galleries: the master's ancient paintings and calligraph hanging on the walls, ancient porcelains and the curios showing in their red-sandalwood cabinets. The Scholars and the rich are their main customers.
After my lessons, my classmates and I often went window shopping. The clerks welcomed those "young customers" too, for the clerks were very relaxed. For those shops, one transaction a day, or a week, even a month was enough. The shop assistants liked to talk with us. They told us how to appreciate the master's works and how differences between this one and that one. The "window shopping" was my most enjoyable thing after the classes of the junior high school. I was edified by these people and I have benefited a great deal from them; some were the connoisseur in their fields.
I grew up in the traditional quadrangle compound of Peking. When
you left home, there was no need to lock the door. The neighbours would watch out for you, even look after your baby as a sitter. On the holiday, you could taste two or three kind of dumplings that your neighbours made and wanted you to share it with them.
In the hot summer days, after the sun set down, someone sprinkled the water on the ground to make the yard cool faster. Soon later,people enjoyed the cool outside. The adults gathered for chatting, playing the chess, or lay in the bamboo chair sipping their tea. At this time, I usually played hide and seek in the dark places with my friends. Or, we sit in a circle around a senior listening the legend story, that hardly read from the book.
On weekend nights, when the Chinese fiddles and the flute were playing from a Buddha temple nearby. The main aria of the Peking Opera began. I always arrived first and took a best place. The gas-light hung on the high branch of the old elm tree. Soon later, people gathered one by one, and the whole drama rehearsal were on. I listened and watched interestedly and usually followed the melody in my heart. It is surprising that all set of the e music instruments came from their shops and the actor's delineated faces were familiar too, for all of them were my neighbours.
This is my home town in the past. As the time goes by, things change a lot, but it still remains fresh in my memory.
Customs and Traditions
Customs and Traditions.
As new residents, we always compare Canadian traditions and people’s behaviour with those in our native countries. In my opinion, people’s behaviour in Canada is more polite and, therefore, more friendly than those in my native country, Russia.
Greetings.
Canadians have a nice tradition – to greet each other when they meet in the elevator or on the quiet street;the elders do it especially nicely. Even though those greetings are very brief, I love them; they cheer me very much. It is not that common in my native country. In big cities, strangers don’t greet each other; only in small villages people still keep this custom. I will be very sorry if we will loose this friendly tradition in Vancouver in the future.
Attention to neighbours
Canadians are more attentive to people around them. Politeness and attention might be shown in different ways: by holding the door open for you, or by engaging in “small talk”– a very friendly Canadian method of communication. As we had no such etiquette, it took quite a time for me to develop minimal “small talk” skills. Now, I am able not only to give a proper prompt answer to the question,” How are you?”, but also manage to ask, ”How are you?”, back.
A polite way of speaking.
I deeply appreciate a truly Canadian manner of speaking in a low, calm voice that doesn’t disturb or irritate people around you. By talking quietly, Canadians show their respect for others. In contrast, Russians are more concerned with themselves, speaking loudly and showing emotions openly. It is easy to recognize newcomers to Canada by an inappropriate volume of their voice, while speaking their mother tongue in public.
Even though we are encouraged to keep our cultural differences, we can learn some good Canadian customs that will help us to live in a friendly, polite and enjoyable environment.
My last version
My Experiece about Cultural Differnce
It happened in my first English class after I immigrated to Canada. Before the class, I was recognized as a new student by the teacher. He immediately began to introduce himself: “My name is L.”
I can’t believe my ears, and asked a classmate beside me, “What’s the teacher’s name?” The classmate pronounced “L” with strong accent while she wrote down a letter “L” on the paper.
“How could ‘L’ be a teacher’s name?” I said to myself, “No, I can’t call him L! I have to call him teacher with his last name as I did in China!” I thought.
Then, I asked the classmate again, “How do you call the teacher?” “L.” She answered.
“What’s his last name?” I asked.
The classmate shrugged her shoulders and looked at me strangely, “I don’t know. We just call him L!”
During the ten-minute recess, I heard another classmate ask loudly, “L, can I ask you a question?” The teacher answered kindly with a smile, “Sure,” and approached that student." I was surprised by the teacher's attitude. In China, students never dared address teachers by names, even in the conversation behind them. If a teacher had heard a student called her name, it would degrade that student’s mark, because it's a disrespectful and rebellious behaviour!
Soon, I had a question to ask the teacher, so I called him hesitantly: “Hi, teacher!”
“Yes? My name is L. What’s the question about?” He responded. I felt uneasy as if I did something wrongly when I heard "L." I told to myself, "Next time, I should remember to call him teacher L, not L only!"
Again, I got another question. I went to him, and called him still hesitantly: “Teacher L, I…” “You can call me L,” he corrected me with a smile and continued, “Yes, please!”
After that, I really experienced some awkward practices with embarrassment. I eventually got used to call him “L!”
Today, I can accost my teacher by name freely and comfortably. I can enjoy the close relationship with teachers instead of being fearful of their annoyance and keeping a respectful distance as I did in China.
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