A little about culture...

Japanese culture is really very intersting. I know, horrible Topic Sentence, and rather obvious coming from me, but I really do think it is. It's not just Anime I like from all this. It's really the culture as well. This is sort of a responce to I think...it was...Krammer's blog...about food and cultrue. Just expanding. 

For instance, a lot of Japanese things portray ghoasts as being either enemies OR allies. You can befriend them and thier fight battles for you or play games and make you really famous. When was the last time anyone saw that in America? I think this point of view is really intersting because in a lot of cultures, ghoasts are really very dangerous and look gross and violent. Just think of something like "The Sixth Sence." In Japan, a ghoast would appear the way it's emotions are, not the way it died. If it's emotions are out of control, the ghoast would be seen in a distorted, hazy form. In America, ghoasts are thought to look the way they died. If you really want to know what I'm talking about, watch something like Hikaru No Go or Shaman King.

I would recomend Hikaru No Go more because it shows other cultural differences. One thing is drinks. The boxes of juice in Japan are triangle. Milk can still be delivered to your door! Vending machines also hot hot drinks, and when you open them, they are so hot they actually steam! Tea is served in most places.

What about games and stuff? Hikaru No Go features a game called "Go" that is rarely seen in the States. It's sort of like VERY complicated Chess, I suppose. It's more popular in Korea. When playing this game, you also sit on a mat with you knees bent and your legs beneath you, toes on the ground. Is that too hard to picture? Your legs fall asleep...but this is the proper way to sit respectfully during a cerimony. Before a game, you always say "Good Luck." and after you are supposed to say "Thank you for the game." If you want to quit the game you say "I resign" and you bow your head slightly while saying each thing, as well as while greeting others. 

Another polite factor- you never point your foot towards someone in either Japan or China. This is VERY rude. Sitting "guy still crosslegged," in other words, is rude. 

This has made me start wondering about other things- is there a country where looking people in the eyes is rude, for instance? Some things we take for granted might actually be very rude in other countries. If you think of any, please comment. I'm sincerily interested!

-Rea