Week 2 reflection Ryo Tanitsu

I really enjoyed the class last Friday. We did one activity to experience the difficulty of learning different culture. We separated into two groups and each group has each own unique culture. I was in the beta group, which has distinct communication by saying unique words and gestures.The other team was a patriarchal society and strict about vertical relationships. When I entered the other team, I got confused because I did not understand the situations at all. They seemed respect to their superior people by touching and praising them to the skies. I had no other choice than to follow and imitate them. When I made some mistake, they got angry and left me. I felt like I was doing something wrong and felt sorry.It is hard to live in another society.  We have to learn their language and culture to be recognized as a member of the society. In my experience, I am studying abroad here in the United States. Although United States is said to be flexible in accepting foreigners because it is heterogeneous society,I sometimes even feel isolated because of my language problem and the lack of recognition of the culture.I sometimes cannot understand what they are talking about or cannot keep up pace with their acting. It does not show my criticism toward American culture, but difficulty in living in another society for people like me who have lived in the homogeneous society such as Japan. Of course, we can feel the novelty of new culture at first, but as we are getting accustomed to the culture, we sometimes feel uncomfortable with the culture. This feeling or emotion apply to almost all people who are staying broad in a long term because each person has their identity characterized by their culture and society throughout their almost whole life. It is hard to change their identity or character easily to adapt to new situation. However, in this globalized world, we are required to not only learn other cultures but also deepen the understanding of feeling of people who are not familiar with new culture. We should give them hands to recognize them a member of the society.