Monday was an orientation day for the new incoming students. There were many of them - 15? They are young, energetic, with hope and aspiration. It reminded me of myself two years ago. I was excited about not having to attend a morning assembly every single workday, to just listen to chit and chat. I was astonished that I can access all journal articles for free at anytime. I was thrilled to be connected to the university WiFi all over the campus. I was amazed and felt comfortable in this more gender-equal, diversity-oriented community. All of these things are now a norm to me. It's time to appreciate them again. It's time to appreciate the fact that I am where I longed to be. I was feeling sluggish and not energetic about many things because of some urgent writing stuff that was unreasonably planned and assigned to me, but now I feel better now. I have a good environment. I am blessed to be here, and blessed to have countless opportunities and resources. It's totally unknown how I'm going to live after this. It sometimes feel like I do not want to work day and night and weekends, but sometimes feel that I would find it quite inconvenient if I don't have freedom to work at nights and on weekends.
I first thought the university system was chaotic, people don't pay attention to what others do, so things are often messy and unorganised. But there is not cumbersome relationships either - people just care about their own work and do not personalise other people's business, and yet they stay friendly and nice to each other. This is pretty much the same in an corporate environment too, I would think. What is the difference? Why do they behave like this and why is it so different from my culture? Why do I feel very uncomfortable there? I think it is the notion that everyone's different? We are all unique - your classmate is from all over the world with different appearance, different academic background, work experience, family history, etc, etc. There is no pressure to behave in a certain way. I hope I will find a good answer to this someday - what makes the diverse community more breatheable than monocultural society? I should probably start reading some cross-cultural books. Or am I still seeing the very superficial part of the culture here - and I am not seeing hidden problems just yet? There are problems, of course, but people are more logical and practical in tackling them. At the end of the day, you just need to focus on your own stuff because what other's do does not really affect your life most of the time. If that happens, it's time to leave. Changing plans happen all the time with much more flexibility and acceptance from the society, although acceptance or approval isn't really needed in this culture.
It may be that in Japan people rely too much on others in approving (appreciating?) themselves. You would realize it's not a good idea here because there is no single standard that is right to everyone. If you are in the US and let others decide what you do, how good you are, how good your decision is, how to do anything, you will be lost because everyone has a different opinion, way of thinking, and different standards towards many things. And you may be taken advantage of by some rare abusive people. There is no absolutely right thing; and therefore you need to think on your own. There is no solid authority that you can blindly trust. What was impressive and I remember for a long time is that my American friend's mum said that she was a Christian, but did not believe everything the priest said. She said the teachings of the bible are old, and she needs to make her own judgement. This is the way individuals think, instead of following authority without giving it a thought. It's easy, it gives you peace of mind if you let someone else dictate everything you do; however, it comes with great cost. How can we change that? It makes me feel choked when I think about this. There is so much invisible pressure to be someone you are not quite and yet you think the society demands you to be. Is that really true? Who is ''the society'' exactly?
Pico de Gallo クミンを入れたら何でもメキシカーン
この夏最大級の蒸し暑さ。。
No comments:
Post a Comment