Jilin University of Foreign Studies (Summer)
Changes in cultural characteristics and values
Faculty of Global Studies Liberal Arts
By participating in the Jilin Foreign Studies University exchange program and experiencing Chinese culture for two weeks, I was able to face cultural differences that I would not have felt if I had stayed in Japan, and I believe this has changed my image and way of thinking about China. Through this program, I have experienced a change in my own values.
The first thing that surprised me when I arrived in China was the restrooms. When I arrived at the airport in Beijing and went to the restroom, the student I was with asked me if I had any tissue paper. I wondered why he asked me that, but when I entered the stall, I realized that there was no toilet paper. I also learned that tissue paper should not be flushed. I was used to having toilet paper in my environment, so I felt strange to always carry tissue paper with me, but I gradually got used to it and the strangeness went away. However, I felt it was inconvenient not to have toilet paper.
I also noticed many differences in the food. I was surprised by the taste of green tea, for example, which had sugar in it, but I was also surprised by the state of the Chinese table after the meal. People left all the trash on the table, even the bones of meat on the table, and left all the food they had spilled on the table as it was.
This experience made me realize once again how grateful I am for the comfortable and convenient Japanese environment. I began to think that the reason why the restrooms and tables are so clean is because Japanese people live their lives with a sense of cleanliness.
The way of paying was also completely different from Japan. China was moving towards a cashless society, so cash was hardly used. On the weekend, a local friend took me shopping. At a store that didn't accept cash, my local friend used "barcode payment" by scanning the barcode with WeChat to pay. I felt it was very convenient because I could pay with just my mobile phone without having to carry a wallet. I was surprised that I didn't have to pay anything at all because I ordered a taxi through the app and paid in advance. I was able to pay with my student card at all stores on campus. The system works by charging money, and when you pay, the remaining balance is displayed. It didn't take long to pay, which I thought was very good. Personally, I would like Chiba University of Commerce to introduce it as well.
Before going to China, I thought that paying with a mobile phone was dangerous, so I thought that cash was the best way to pay, but when I saw it being used in China, I changed my mind and thought that this payment method was good because it was time-saving and efficient. I thought that because China has such a large population, the shift to a cashless society would progress at an incredible speed.
Finally, I had a preconceived notion that Chinese people are strong-tongued, impatient, and quick to anger. However, when I went there, most of the people I interacted with were calm and kind. Once I became friends with them and opened up to them, they were very kind to me. They helped me at the university, invited me to eat with them in the cafeteria, and took me to recommended places on weekends. There was something that bothered me during my stay. It was the Chinese people's consideration and hospitality. The people who guided me when I went out said they would pay for all my meals, paid for my train ticket, and gave me a gift of the Hanfu when they dressed me in it. I will never forget when I asked them why they gave me so many gifts and they said it was because they wanted me to enjoy myself. I felt that the Chinese people's consideration and hospitality really do not require any compensation or return. It's not that treating others to meals or giving them gifts is good, but I felt that it was very good that they naturally acted thinking about how to make the other person happy. I used to act with the thought in mind of not doing anything that would upset others, but now I've realized that if I can act while thinking about what will make others happy, then I will be happy when they are happy, so I've started trying to incorporate this into my daily behavior.
During these two weeks, I realized that the common sense and things I had taken for granted may be true in Japan, but they are no longer so in other countries. I thought that if you go to a country other than Japan, you will be influenced by the lifestyle and cultural background of that country, and new values will be formed. This challenge allowed me to meet and experience new people, encounter new values, and broaden my options. I would like to spend my future student life cherishing new encounters while keeping my spirit of challenge in mind.