Wow! I have had a lot of questions about Japanese culture lately! Alright, here goes, I will try to describe Japanese culture and people as best as I can. It is rather hard to describe.
Japan is a wonderful place and I love every minute of it, and everything I say about it I truly mean in the best way possible! Japan is a very formal place, etiquette is a very very important thing here. You may absolutely not call someone by their name alone, we always use San, kyodai, or Shimai! Mr, mrs, sister, or brother. Titles are very important here, and almost everyone goes by their family (last) name. We bow to everyone we see, which in Japan means probably about a hundred times a day. It is so amazing and awesome how much respect people have for each other here. Whenever they see that I`m struggling with my bike or juggling too many books, someone always helps me.
People here are very smart, and very capable. It has been a rather interesting shift from what I`m used to. I absolutely love helping people, but total and complete independence is very engrained in Japanese culture. It is almost offensive to ask someone if they need help in most instances and they give you a ,"Do you really not think that I can do this myself?" Look... which is sometimes pretty funny. They can be pouring sweat, carrying fifty pounds, shaking like a leaf, or panting louder than a plane taking off, but they will not ask for help! People here really just like to do things by themselves. Japanese people are so crazy strong, it is really impressive. They really don`t like to rely on anybody else, which has its quirks haha.
Whenever we visit an investigator, almost every time they feed us something! It is so funny, lots of times people will be so self conscious about how small their humble homes are that they either won`t let us inside their house or we give a standing lesson in the `mud room` or the place where people take off their shoes when they enter the house. People give us lots of Mogi cha, Japanese pears, grapes, cantaloupe, and occasionally popsicles! (Which they call `isu candy` or `ice candy.` Even though people don`t like accepting physical help of any kind, they are very giving! They care so much about presentation and really like making people happy!
There are lot of hidden etiquette rules that I have broken unintentionally haha. Like once I started writing someone a note with my favorite red pen, and my companion said, `What are you doing? You can not write people with red!` If you write someone with a red pen, it is basically worse than flipping them off! There are a lot of social rules here. This is a very disciplined and strict culture. Luckily most of the time people don`t get too offended by me, but I get corrected a lot haha!!
Ashli asked me what `harro!!` means haha :) In the Japanese language, they do not use the letter L at all. It is basically physically impossible for them to do so! When they say any word in English, their L`s sound like R`s. Sometimes people will start speaking to me in English, and I don`t even recognize that they stopped speaking in Japanese haha! It`s pretty funny and awkward.
Anyway, I want to use some of this time to send pictures. If you want to ask me a specific question about the culture feel free, there are a million different things I could say.
Oh, one last thing that Ashli, Josh P., and Elder Maynes might think is funny :) Japan is seriously like a Zelda game brought to life. When U. Shimai and I go to the grocery store on Preparation day, there is like this weird classical music playing in the background that repeats over and over again. It really is totally like walking into a shop in a Zelda game. How funny is that? And I swear, every poster or any advertisement is always drawn in cartoons. It is so funny. The people here are SO serious all the time. But their advertisements are the cutsiest thing on the planet. They are all flowery and comical and bright. It is so funny!
Anyway family! I know this gospel is true. Missionary work is the best thing in the world. Every day I see people who are sad, who are crippled, who really don`t know the purpose of life, and have never had anyone to depend on but themselves. I cannot tell you the night and day difference between when I walk into the church full of Japanese members and when I walk into any other building or place here. This gospel brings people genuine and true happiness. God truly lives. He is our Father. He loves us and will answer our prayers. How amazing is that? We believe that God created us after his image and that he actually loves us! I hope that when you all say your prayers morning and night that you take time to listen and try to feel impressions from the Holy Ghost. If you don`t listen, Heavenly Father can`t help you. I love you all, you are such great examples in my life- thank you for everything. I would not be the person I am without each and every one of you!
Sorry this is so long! I am getting worse at responding to individual letters. Please write me if you have time! And by the way, I don`t need birthday presents :) Seriously, shipping is expensive. Maybe just send me a little letter (sorry, even stamps are a little expensive.) Anyway, I hope all is well with you all!
輪と金図Beth
