Recently I went to Glasgow, Scotland to participate in an academic conference.
I hear Japanese seldom be found there, but there have been more and more Japanophiles due to Japanese soccer players with excellent sporting achievements on the international stage.
There are Japanophiles, however, I faced high language and culture barriers.
This time I will talk about “uneasiness in different culture” which I actually felt there, not about delivery.
The biggest trouble I encountered during this trip is I had never my suitcase delivered as previously arranged.
Scottish English is difficult for me, so I was not sure that I could make myself understood by people in Scotland correctly when doing formalities for entry.
In addition, their businesslike manners made me more uneasy and even sad.
In consequence, 2 days later, when it was not supposed to be delivered, the suitcase was delivered to me at midnight. However, I had been uneasy till I got it.
That’s because they were backtracking in trying to explain me and their ways were businesslike, not because I couldn’t make myself understood. It’s different from the way in Japan. This made me even irritated.
Someone said to me, “I know you are at a loss without your luggage. I try to have it delivered to you as soon as possible.”
Though the situation never changed, this made me feel easy and even feel as if it moved toward resolution immediately.
It’s important to feel that we are taken care of, even though we, each other cannot make ourselves understood completely.
That would relieve uneasiness, even though the difficult situation never changed.
I realized again that that was important for us.
It’s true of any location and any situation.
It’s desirable that a Japanese society where we help each other more when in trouble, regardless of our nationalities should be established.
I hear Japanese seldom be found there, but there have been more and more Japanophiles due to Japanese soccer players with excellent sporting achievements on the international stage.
There are Japanophiles, however, I faced high language and culture barriers.
This time I will talk about “uneasiness in different culture” which I actually felt there, not about delivery.
The biggest trouble I encountered during this trip is I had never my suitcase delivered as previously arranged.
Scottish English is difficult for me, so I was not sure that I could make myself understood by people in Scotland correctly when doing formalities for entry.
In addition, their businesslike manners made me more uneasy and even sad.
In consequence, 2 days later, when it was not supposed to be delivered, the suitcase was delivered to me at midnight. However, I had been uneasy till I got it.
That’s because they were backtracking in trying to explain me and their ways were businesslike, not because I couldn’t make myself understood. It’s different from the way in Japan. This made me even irritated.
Someone said to me, “I know you are at a loss without your luggage. I try to have it delivered to you as soon as possible.”
Though the situation never changed, this made me feel easy and even feel as if it moved toward resolution immediately.
It’s important to feel that we are taken care of, even though we, each other cannot make ourselves understood completely.
That would relieve uneasiness, even though the difficult situation never changed.
I realized again that that was important for us.
It’s true of any location and any situation.
It’s desirable that a Japanese society where we help each other more when in trouble, regardless of our nationalities should be established.
