Comment by thaumasiotes
4 days ago
Social structures still exist in social situations. I don't really see what the alternative would be.
I found an interesting interview on youtube of someone who grew up in Japan and moved to Korea:
> What is your favorite thing about Korea?
> I find it comfortable that Koreans are honest about their thoughts.
> In the beginning I was hurt a lot and it was hard because of how honest Koreans are
> What do you think is the difference between Korea and Japan?
> First of all I think there is a difference in personality
> Since I was living in Japan, up until I was 18 years old, I had a typical Japanese personality
> Back then I couldn't speak my mind [...] and dancing was the only way I could express myself
> [...] and I also couldn't reject [someone/something]
> when my friends said we should do something, I always said yes
> after living in Korea, I felt a lot that I need to say what I want and don't want to do
Given that it's unacceptable to reject what a peer wants to do in Japan, I can see where making suggestions to a superior would cause problems.
This is exactly what I ran into-- it's something you learn by experience/living through it. Unfortunately, no amount of text books can really prepare you for that.
It's weird. I knew thousands of kanji. I could conjugate like the best of them. I could read and discuss classic Japanese literature. I could read and explain classic Japanese grammar and the root of modern grammar.
What I couldn't do? A simple social situation.