Studying Abroad to Japan

[clockworkorange]

Hey jeppy-san (sorry i did not add -san the first time ard),

Thank you for reassuring me. I was actually quite surprise about the thread on squatting toilets. I just thought i was weird that these things bother me.

Neway, thanks!!!

Hmm...what is so fascinating about samurai culture? Well, i suppose i have a very romantic view of samurais. what i have in my mind is very far from the reality of the samurais, i know, but at least i know this and try to learn about it. I read a lot of books and I've read Eiji Yoshikawa's Musashi, the Heike Monogatari and my favourite - Taiko. grin. Again, i dunno how historically accurate these works are, i dun read for research really...i read those for pleasure and the plot was so intricate, the deeds so daring, the violence so gruesome that i couldn't help but be caught up in it. So i started reading non-fiction books about samurai. I think to me, these people are just fascinating......frankly, i wouldn't want to know them in real life....i admit they would terrify me but you can't deny the fact that they're a breed all on their own - they live, breathe death everyday...how do people do that exactly?

i dunno how my rambling has answered your question.... though i hope it has..

well, i'd love for my country to be as interesting to foreigners as japan generally is to non-japanese. i dunno about other countries but in malaysia, most people i know want to go to Japan at least once.

I don't really understand what u mean by Kokumin-sei.....from your post i understand it as people not easily accepting others because they're different or of a different nationality?

If my understanding is correct, i dun think this is a problem only Japan has. It happens in other places too. I know it happens a lot in my country. I believe we're nice ppl, we just need to get used to different mentalities and cultures.

At any rate, i apologize if i did not understand you properly, jeppy-san.

 

[Glenski]

I don't really understand what u mean by Kokumin-sei.....from your post i understand it as people not easily accepting others because they're different or of a different nationality?
If my understanding is correct, i dun think this is a problem only Japan has.

Perhaps true, but since this is a Japan forum...

 

[clockworkorange]

Perhaps true, but since this is a Japan forum...

Hi Glenski,

Well, what i meant was jeppy-san shouldn't be hard on her fellow countrymen. Most ppl take time to accept other ppl who are different regardless of country. That its not a particular thing only the Japanese have.

However, maybe i don't know enough about japan or the japanese to say that. I've never been to Japan and the only Japanese person i know is my Japanese language teacher, who seems pretty friendly.

I was also trying to understand what she meant by Kokumin-sei.

 

[jeppy325]

Kokumin-sei

Hello,

Charles, thank you for you reply! It is really helpful to know how the foreign students are living in Japan.

Glenski, haha...soudesune.

Clockworkorange-san, sorry for my late response.
What I meant by Kokumin-sei is...I cannot explain it well after all!!
After living in Japan for 18 yrs, I left here to go to an American university in hope of finding and actually-doing what I wanna do. (Just to note: Japanese education system is often criticized as the system to discourage students to become creative and original.) I was in US for 7 yrs and came back recently. I have a lot of respect to my country/culture now after seeing it from outside, but still...when I am around Japanese people, there is this unsatisfaction in me.
People are generally nice and have many ideas, but they don't know how to utilize what they have. Hmmm....the more I write it, the more my explanation becomes ambiguous...sorry.
If I can explaine what this unsatisfaction is, maybe my point becomes clear. But at this point, I don't have right words and enough wisdom.=(

Thanks for letting me know that I don't have to be too hard on Japanese characteristics in general. Since I am also a Japanese, that relieves me.

I hope you will find a wonderful person who can represent to you the Samurai spirit (in a gentle way)!