Culture

[soubriquet 0]

My backround is Anglo/Celtic, not particularly Christian. Soubriquette is Asian, not particularly Shinto/Buddhist. Geographicly and culturally it would be hard to be further apart. Yet we share the fundamental values of honesty, diligence and faithfulness.

 

It's a strange and wonderful world.

[muikabochi 208]

It certainly is. Soubriquette is Japanese, right?

[soubriquet 0]

Yes she is Japanese. It really doesn't matter, because we share common human social values.

[indosnm 0]

Religion is mother of all evil, Better off without it.

[soubriquet 0]

Agreed. Faith without thought. Believe what you are told. Bullshit.

[fb_steve 0]

Yep, and one can argue morality derives from nature rather than religion.

[samurai 0]

we are influenced by our surroundings.

 

I was raised lutheran, but never found faith until I was long out of church.

 

My religous beliefs are much stronger now when I don't actively worship than they were when I was actually going to church as a kid.

 

but few kids have the experiences in life that give them faith. For me, it took two near death experiences to make me question the "order" of things. When things defy logic, what else have you got?

I call it faith. But that is not necessarily in the traditional use of the word.

[soubriquet 0]

That's my argument. We come from polar opposites, yet have complete agreement. It's nature, not religion or philosophy.

[samurai 0]

It could also be in-part the communication barrier. Is she fluent- like native?

 

My wife is japanese. Fluent in English but I still have to plan what I say for an extra moment before speaking. And she has to do the same when speaking japanese for me. I believe this extra drop of thought going into what you are about to say prevents heaps of possible misunderstandings and foot-in-mouth scenarios.

 

However, our world-belief systems are founded upon our language. This, I believe, is why so many religions/cultures fight. Their view of the world can be, quite simply, different.

[soubriquet 0]

She's flueent, I'm a language moron, but when she puts her arms around me it doesn't matter.

[me jane 0]

Interesting idea Samurai. In Tarzan & my case, in some ways the language issue might help us because it forces us to sit down, listen more carefully, discuss things and meet in the middle but on the other hand fights get triggered by one or the other of us misinterpreting something that was said so I suppose it balances out.

 

I agree about culture being founded in language too. There are concepts that simply can't be translated, easy examples being the use of "sumimasen" or "otsukare sama" instead of "thank-you".

[klingon 10]

I find myself talking rather strangely when I go back home (family home) and am surrounded by fluent English speakers. It is quite distressing at times because I realise that I no longer speak my own language like they do and come up with the most strange comments at times. It usually gets better after a week or two but I think I'd have to be living back there to really start feeling not like a gaijin in my own home town.

[soubriquet 0]

I agree about the language/culture link, they affect each other in a circular manner. There are differences between us, but the really fundamental values are shared.

 

We never argue. That's not to say we don't occasionally get annoyed with each other, but it never degenerates into a row. One of the fundamental values we share is a determination to maintain an harmonious home.

 

I'm starting to find myself putting verbs at the end of sentences. Speaking like Yoda, I am.

[samurai 0]

Yoda, my second voice too, is.

[SirJibAlot 0]

yea, it's wierd - my wife and I never argue either. I used to have fights with all my ex-girlfirends - but we never really get into it....I like that....