Volume 21　人とのつながり


Connecting with People

Michael Rhys: Hello everyone, and welcome to the April edition of Cultural Crossroads.  Hello, Ann!

Ann Slater: Hello, Michael . . . 

Michael: How are you doing today?

Ann: . . . very nice to be with you again.

Michael: It is! 

Ann: Yeah.

Michael: What we're talking about today is meeting and getting to know people; making connections with people.

Ann: Right, and how does one make friends or build new relationships with people? Of course there are many cultural differences in this area. What are some of the ones that you've noticed, Michael?

Michael: Um, ha-ha, I'm so glad you asked me that question! Um, certainly Japanese people tend to be a lot more reserved about talking to new people. They're certainly very reluctant, I think, to, to start a conversation with somebody that they don't know. Whereas certainly, I believe, in the States, and maybe slightly less so in the U.K., people have no problem with just going up to a, a total stranger in-if it's like a party, for example, and introducing themselves. You know, "Hi, I'm so-and-so." But here, I don't really see that happening so much.

Ann: No, I don't either and I do think that's one of the big differences. And I think that, you know, certainly in Japan there's more formality and people feel if you do go up to somebody you should do some sort of, like, self-introduction or, you know, formally "How do you do?" and this sort of thing. 
 Whereas in America we, we don't, very often don't do that. So, we might say something like "Oh, that's a great jacket you're wearing," or "Gosh, it's cold today," right? Or, "Boy, these drinks are terrible," or, you know, or something, sort of, you know, that fits with whatever the situation is.
 And then a few minutes into the conversation, if it seems like it's going well, then I might say, "Oh, by the way," you know, "I'm Ann," and then you would introduce yourself. But it's much more casual.

Michael: Right.

Ann: Yeah. And another interesting piece of this whole picture, I think, is - with the whole advent of social media - how that has changed the way that people are connected. And so sometimes now, whether it's through Facebook or something like that, you will be connected with a lot of people who you wouldn't otherwise have been.

Michael: Right.

Ann: Right? Ha-ha, yeah.

Michael: It's certainly added a, an immense new dimension to the whole issue here.