My own musings - Part the 1st

Post Reply New Topic

Have you at any particular time felt as if you were born in the wrong place - that is, you felt as if your "soul" was a different culture/nationality to that of your actual, physical/"racial" birth? If so, are any of them linked toward your obsessions? Are any of those feelings NOT linked to any Aspergian obsessions?

I'll start the ball rolling: as far as obsessive links go, when I was obsessed with all things Dutch...well, you get the picture...

However, I seem to be attracted to Icelandic culture somewhat, and I also have such (probably moreso) to the Japanese culture. I am not totally sure how to answer the question I proposed myself, but I have expressed sympathies in the past that make it clear I do not exactly "get" the whole Australian culture thing (though it is my own). I was extremely angry at the time I wrote those, apologies all those who were offended (though it is a bit late apologising now).

I also remember in high school, I had some positive experiences with the Japanese exchange students. Beforehand, I was full of hatred about those people (my grandfather fought in WWII in Papua New Guinea against the Japanese) but I opened up to the Japanese students and their culture a lot more than I expected to be able to do so - I took part in a tea ceremony and I also was photographed in a kendo uniform complete with that stick-thing they use. When I had tried to chat up a Japanese student (dumb move, I know), she rebuffed me - but she was polite about it and we remained good acquaintances despite that, unlike most Australian students who would probably simply tell me to eff off. Even when an abysmal incident happened in school involving a renegade Australian student (hint: humiliating schoolyard prank in front of those students) I reported the incident to their teacher as well as the Australian teachers, who told what had happened to me to those students in Japanese (I didn't know any Japanese then). One of the students apologised right away upon hearing that.

Even in later days, I have participated in Japanese culture programs run in the area I live in, and I try my best to take it all in without going bonkers - which I seem to do well. And, when I manage to get some free time, I will start seriously learning Japanese. Sayonara for now, I'm not sure when the next posting will take place.

It's funny you should say that: because the moment I read the question I thought to myself "Japanese", before I even saw that that's what you thought too. Sometimes I think I would have done better as a Japanese person than as a white Anglosaxon. I'm terrible at learning new languages tho, and I've never been to Japan. Here are the reasons I admire the Japanese, and sometimes wish I was one of them:

1. Their robotics technology surpasses ours in the US. (I'm thinking about choosing mechatronics as my specialization at my college.)

2. I admire their sense of humor. Search youtube for "Japanese prank", and you'll see all kinds of FUNNY practical jokes. The American equivalent would be Jackass, which is crude by comparison because it relies on shock value more than actual humor.

3. I love Chindogu, which is the Japanese art of un-useless invention, or almost-useless invention. (Ex: unrollable pedestrian crosswalk, giant swiss army knife with garden tools in it, thimble toothbrush, solar-powered flashlight, shoes with exchangeable soles that leave backwards footprints, motorized fork that turns to reel in spaghetti, motorized fan on chopsticks to cool food, hairdrier powered by bellows strapped under your shoes, etc. etc.)

4. I like Samurai history and culture (who doesn't). I mean, they're arguably the most legendary warrior race in world history.

One thing which I think is overrated from japan is Anime. I think the old 1920s 30s 40s American cartoons are superior (and superior to anything in America today for that matter). A lot of Anime looks wonderful on each individual frame, but when you watch it going, you don't get the same fluidity you see in old American cartoons.

Sometimes I feel like I was born at the wrong time. Sometimes I wish I could live in the USA in the 1960s and 70s instead, because contemporary American culture glamorizes rap music and reality TV, both of which I detest intensely.