Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
While there may not be all that much American stuff on - I think you may find that you`re very wrong about the position of television in Japanese culture. It seems like most people have the tv on constantly. A lot of people find it weird for there not to be a tv on in the background.
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I have to back up this statement. Having the TV on all the time has been a weird pet peeve of mine for a long time-- before I even came to Japan. My image of us American people was that basically all we ever do is sit around and watch TV. Unfortunately from what I've seen, Japan takes the cake on this.
It took my wife months to get used to the idea of not constantly having the TV on. So much for the "peaceful, tranquil, etc." Japan that you hear about... even in the quiet old inaka, most people, including the elderly, have the TV on constantly.
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I have to say though Wings, this is an interesting thread. Some of it is stuff that I have been thinking of a lot recently.
I think getting hung up on trying to fit in too much can really hinder one's experience here. Knowing one's role and doing the best one can within that role (with some exceptions here or there) seems reasonable to me.
In regards to the workplace, what do you guys think about some Japanese people basically dedicating their lives (some times at the expense of their family life) to their jobs? There are a lot of people who go to work before 8 and don't leave their work place until 8 or later every day-- sometimes even going to work on Saturdays and/or Sundays. For a foreigner, do you feel that fitting in with this part of the culture necessary? Is it worth it? Is it rewarded? What about not fitting in as far as this is concerned? Is it worth it having extra time with your friends and family to be thought of as another "gaijin" who doesn't take their work seriously?
How far do you take "fitting in"? I think that I'm more on the "fitting in is better" side of the fence, but there are certain areas where I think that maybe drawing the line is important to simply preserve a certain quality of life. There are some aspects of a culture which would be deemed unhealthy by another. How do you deal with this as a foreigner?
While I asked specifically about the workplace (which I'm admittedly interested in), I'm curious about where you guys "draw the line". I think that it's interesting to note that even natives (which may be the case for any country/culture) have certain things about their own culture which they don't like or believe in to the extent of not participating in whatever aspect of their culture which that may be.