Comments on: I’m back from Europe!

By: kirin

kirin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:17:09 +0000

Thank you for your comment, Yuthika.
I should have posted bigger pictures but those days I put smaller pictures in my blog. ^ ^;;
While I was in Amsterdam, it never rained so I have no idea how terrible it looks when it rains. haha.

By: Yuthika

Yuthika — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:51:53 +0000

I love your pic of amsterdam:-) To see it from a tourist is so lovely I dont see it anymore I pass it every day, to see this pic makes me think yes this city is pretty, ok when it is not raining;-)

By: kirin

kirin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:57:05 +0000

Have you watched Ghibli movies by Hayao Miyazaki?
I don't usually watch Japanese movies except for the Ghibli, but generally I think Japanese anime is greater than drama.

Yes, I understand it was necessary for us to become wealthy like Europe or the U.S after WW2, which is why we needed to work like a horse. I know my parents' generation or elder generations worked even harder than us. But we should also have right to enjoy life. Sadly so many people suicide themselves in Japan and the suicide rate is a top class in the world, if I was not wrong. -_-

By: sam

sam — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:40:09 +0000

before this, i too thought people in japan must be real happy! Coz they got all the nice sceneries, pretty girls, and loads of the latest gadgets to buy at the cheapest price coz they are made in japan. And i have heard that people in japan worked very hard.

You know what, i too have watched some of the movies from Japan, you know what i found? I found most of the movies are either having the main actor or actress died in the end or it just has a very miserable ending. I don't know why they wanna make it this way. Shouldn't you make movies fun to be watched? Well, at least more comedy movies! The main purpose of watching a movie is to entertain yourself, to make yourself happy! Is not for you to feel sad after watching it, right? Once in a while is ok, but not 90% of the movies. That is why i stopped watching japanese movies now.

And please understand that hard work is needed to make up for the lost time after world war 2. That is why your country needs a super efficient working force, and that shapes your working culture into what it is today. But i also believe plain hardwork is not enough. You need to be creative, and to be creative you need freedom….

By: kirin

kirin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:34:12 +0000

Thank you for sharing your story. Wow, I like how Brazilians enjoy holidays. I wish we could have that long holiday… If we try to take 30 days off, then that's the time when we quit and change jobs. (T_T) *crying*

By: kirin

kirin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:34:29 +0000

I don't know about peeing on the tracks… But we sure have uchi/soto notion. Uchi-dzura （内面）is a face that one makes to his family, while soto-dzura (外面）is a face that he makes to his work. When he is a really nice person (pretends to be nice) at work, we call him "Sotodzura ga ii" but most of the case he is not that good at home. ^ ^;

Taiwan sounds very similar to Japan. But in Japan, slurping is considered OK and we think that could even make your noodles taste better. So many of us like to slurp when we eat noodles. :p

By: Denise

Denise — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:18:27 +0000

I lived in Japan for 3 years (due to a scholarship) and I noticed that most Japanese people can't (or don't know how to) have fun. I worked in a restaurant during the last 2 years and my bosses had not much in life besides their work. Sure one of them was married and had a baby. But still he was more at the restaurant than at home. My Brazilian male coworkers would talk a lot to him. I heard that he said he doesn't like making love to his wife, cause women are too complicated, so he'd rather do it by himself.
In Brazil people usually get 30 days off per year – all at once, 2x15days, or any other convenient combination for the worker and the company. However, some people have jobs that are not completely regulated, so they don't have the right for vacations. Also getting a job here is very complicated. There are no "arubaito" jobs here, where people work in restaurants and get per hour and work just some days a week. A waiter here usually works a year (5-6 days a week) and then can take his 30 days off….
I had an interesting time in Japan but I believe every foreign gets a bit crazy there after some years, then it is time to go back home or move to another country. I don't plan on moving back there but you never know…

By: Becca

Becca — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:31:54 +0000

haha, yes, we learned a bit about the Japanese idea of "uchi/soto" and that the genkan(not sure about the spelling of this) is usually lower than the rest of the house, and you take off your shoes to go up to the rest of the house ^_^ I was also very surprised when I first moved to Canada that one of my Caucasian friends would just wear her shoes all over her house, but some other houses have a foyer area for shoes, and you take it off when you enter, just like in Japan. In Taiwan my family always take off shoes at the door, so I thought it was kind of dirty to wear shoes in the house too.

our professor talked about how the uchi/soto of trains and the train track, the train being uchi and the tracks are considered soto, so when she was in Japan it was considered okay to publically urinate on the tracks!!! I am not sure how recent this is, but this was very strange to me.

my mother always lectured me when I slurp my noodles… I think it is considered rude in Chinese culture to slurp but I do it anyway xD

By: kirin

kirin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:03:29 +0000

Oh they have such an event in winter time…but I think it'd be difficult for me to travel there in winter. My luggage will be full of clothing and coats. I cannot live in a cold place. I think I like Singapore.

By: kirin

kirin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:00:31 +0000

Singapore sounds such an interesting city. I have many blog readers from Singapore. I think I should visit there to see how it's like. I like warm places better. Don't you feel so cold in Holland?