Culture Shock

My official Japan Website:

http://www.avexnet.or.jp/jonathanwong 

Just like my previous blog entry, here's the link to my first Japanese Music Video:

「君は薔薇より美しい」(You're more beautiful than a rose)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KTAm_phrOY

 They say that to understand a culture, you must first learn its language.  Living as a foreigner in Japan right now, I couldn’t agree more. prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /

In many ways, the stage I’m at career-wise in Japan currently really does remind me of my earlier days at boarding school.  I had to re-learn independence in a brand new setting while chipping away at my long-term goals. It was sometimes hard holding close to my heart the reason I was there in the first place, with so much going on around me.  Back then, the unfamiliar sights and sounds of North Eastern America were often overwhelming, and its slightly alienating social etiquette often stifling.  Though ultimately rewarding, this experience presented some real challenges at the time.   

Outside of workplace pressure, the one thing that really makes my current experience as a singer in Japan even more trying than the aforementioned is the Japanese language.

Every language has its nuances that can only be learned in practice within certain native social environments.  Even though I already spoke English before going to the U.S. for school, specific usages and attitudes that I later acquired could only have been learned on the East Coast.  Likewise, Japanese culture and its normative behaviors are very much reflected in its language.  By going through the various conjugations and forms of each word, certain concepts such as social distance, sense of class, and subtle emphasis of one’s wishes become apparent and more comprehensible.  

As a student here not just of music and language, but also of culture, I am truly humbled by all that is happening right now.  As they say in Japanese,頑張って(ganbatte)！Do your best!

-JWo