Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Listening #5: Eye Contact in Tokyo (due 11/7)
She says that nobody looks at each other in Japan. One reason is to respect privacy.
I think about our society today--how people don't look at each other, not out of respect but out of pure distraction--people looking at their screens instead of at faces! So sad!
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LOL, i was about to cry...
ReplyDeleteI think if people don't look at me, especial in a foreign country, make me feel I'm invisible front of them and I may think that I am not welcome there. And in my opinion, the people who do not look at each other are cold people, and they do not respect other people as well.
ReplyDeleteBefore I come to the US, I rarely look at a person who I was talking to. Maybe it is because of my culture. We very concern about respectful between younger and older people. However, it also depend on how you look at each other. If you look at them with your warm-hearted eyes, it is acceptable. Or in a family, you can look at each other as well. on the other hand, in an authority you are not suppose to look at a person who is higher position. It is not respectful.
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DeleteThat so bad! I cannot live in such Tokyo's society. I feel lonely and no one will help me if I need help. And, it is dangerous as what you told us today in the class Mrs. Holly.
ReplyDeleteI hope not to face like these attitudes.
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ReplyDeleteIt's not really a good thing when nobody is looking at you that makes you feel invisible, and can push you to be introverted.
DeleteI have lived in Japan for eight years, so that I have some details to share with you guys.According to my experience, I believe that Japanese people are different from other countries, but I disagree with some opinions which mentioned in this audio.
ReplyDeleteFirst, it is true that they do not keep eye contact because they think it is disrespectful. However, it does not mean that they look away every time when they speak with others. You can see this habit only when they talk with strangers, not with people who they meet daily and the customers.
Second, the customer service is really so high in Japan. All employers should look at customers face when they speak to them. It is a rule. For example, I worked as a cashier when I was in Japan. There were some customer service rules which all employers should follow. Keeping eye contact was most essential one among the rules. Most of the time manager or supervises looked at the way how we deal with customers. Even if they notice that we do not follow their rules, they will warn us three times. If we do not change our the way of service, the employees have clear power to fire us.
Chamari~~Thanks a lot for sharing the nice experiences!!!Agree with U!
DeleteI didn't know that earlier that is something new
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ReplyDeleteNana and Rayan, thank you for the comments.
There are many different culture in the world. we need to respect their culture~
ReplyDeleteIn my viewpoint, It depends on each culture and in different situations. Sometimes, when people do not look at us, they do not mean to disrepect us. In contrast, it sometimes means respect. Of course, when living or travelling to a foreign country, people sometimes misunderstand with the gestures, lifestyle or actions there. We just need time adapting ourselves and everything will be okay. :)
ReplyDeleteI think they said'people don't look other's face' it doesn't mean they don't look face. I think they mean that they don't look each other straightly, they might have some ways to look people politely.
ReplyDeleteIt's not always easy to understand and adapt to a different culture.It can make you feel bad or invisible as the case mentionned in the lecture.For that woman ,eye contact is a part of her culture,between friends,acquaintances,even toward strangers.That's why she feel completely lost in Tokyo where eye contact is something that's almost '' in danger of extinction'' especially toward strangers.
ReplyDeleteNowadays,all around the world,eye contact is getting more and more rare ,mostly because of the advent of cell phone.People are so absorbed in their own world that they don't even really look at each other anymore