Column in series] Why former TV TOKYO announcer Miyu Iketani was told, “May you have a baby soon!
Happy New Year! I look forward to working with you again in the New Year.
I hope everyone had a relaxing New Year’s holiday.
In China, we celebrate the Lunar New Year, so only January 1 is closed for the New Year’s vacation, and from the 2nd, classes and tests are held as usual. However, the inside of the dormitory was decorated in a New Year’s style, and the thoughtfulness of the management company staff warmed my heart.
Surprising “cultural differences
It has already been three months since I came to China. Time has flown by so quickly. I was surprised at the many cultural differences between our two neighboring countries, but I think the thing that gave me the biggest culture shock was the way people treat each other.
The first thing that surprised me was that “Chinese people are basically very close to people. They know the contact information of their friend’s mother, they go out to dinner with their friend’s boss at work, and when they make a friend, they quickly get to know everyone in the community to which that person belongs.
The hurdle to introducing one’s friends, family, and acquaintances to others is also lower than in Japan. I often heard people say, “I enjoyed getting to know you today, so I will introduce you to my friends the next time we meet! I’ll introduce you to my friends next time I see them! When I told them that I was studying Chinese or that I was interested in Chinese culture and history, they were very pleased, and in no time at all, their Wechat (Chinese version of LINE) friend registrations increased.
The sense of closeness is not only between friends, but also between family members. When I greeted my husband’s relatives, who are half Japanese and half Chinese, at their wedding, many of them said to me, “I can’t wait to see our child’s face. The common phrase “早生贵子 (May your child be born soon)” is naturally added to the congratulatory phrase “Congratulations on your marriage.
In Japan, pregnancy and childbirth are matters of personal privacy, and people have different ways of thinking about them. In Japan, pregnancy and childbirth are considered quite sensitive topics, but in China, there seems to be little awareness of such issues.
On the other hand, many of my friends around me say that they will never get married or fall in love in their lives, and that they will never have children because it costs too much money. Moreover, they are all clearly assertive children, so there seems to be a generational difference in their perceptions of marriage and childbirth.
In China, where people are very close to each other, “sociability” is an important skill required for an enjoyable life. The other day, looking back on my life in China, I told a Chinese friend, “In China, I don’t have to wear makeup to work, and I don’t have the stress of thinking I have to be feminine anymore, In China, there is no pressure to be “ feminine,” but there is stress to be sociable.
In China, there are more family gatherings than in Japan, and most people have many opportunities to meet their parents’ friends and business associates from childhood. At birthdays and weddings, it is polite to make a speech, of course, but also to make a toast and have a small conversation with each guest who has gathered. If you can speak wittily at such gatherings, you can make your parents look good.
This may not be a problem for those who are naturally sociable, but for those who are shy, it can be quite stressful. I am not a shy person, but I am actually not very good at talking to new people about myself instead of greeting them, and I am not very good at being attentive to them. Especially in China, you have to be careful because you are talking to someone as a “member of the family” rather than as an individual. I get nervous when I think that if I make a mistake, I will be disgracing my family. However, even when I am nervous, everyone around me is very friendly and accepting, so I have never had any bad feelings.
