Japanese People

When I first arrieved in Japan, I didnt know any Japanese person. I had no idea how they are, their character, behaviour, psychology... It seems silly to say that right now since people from all over the world are all the same. Every one is different in its own way. With the program of speaknig partner here in Kansai Gaidai, I met my speaking partner, who introduced her japanese friends to me, and from there I started meeting more people. Since we hang out a lot, we talked a lot about anything and everything; From their hobbies to their religion to their culture, to how they view the world in general. Not only that, but we are surrounded by only Japanese people wherever we go in the street, the restaurants, the malls... Everywhere people are helpful, quiet, nice, , attentif, obligeant, helpful, bow whenever we pass our eyes cross theirs as a form of politeness. At first I was very surprised by that behaviour, then I came to the conclusion that Japanese people are just nice and polite without any ulterior motives as it is in my country or the other countries where I have been. I guess that makes Japanese people special and different in a way.
As an example of this kindness, instead of asking my friends to take their pictures for my post and talk about them, I just went to the CIE building and asked strangers to do so. It wasnt that difficult really I just went to the computer lab and the lounge and asked two girls, introduced myself amd asked them if I can take their pictures and post it in my blog. At first they were very shocked then explained that it was for my Anthropology class, and that we are doing an academic blog, and that today's post is about Japanese people. After hearing my explanation, both the girls said that they are going to be happy to help. I started by asking questions about their hobbies, studies... in order to get to know a bit about them and have ideas about how to take their pictures. And the result was as follow:

Her name is Yuki. And she is a 4 year student in Kansai Gaidai. She is studying Latin American Literature, and speaks very good English as well as Spanish. She likes shopping, going to karaoke and spending time with her friends. She has already been outside of Japan many times before so she was very chil talking to my friend and I about everything she likes to do. She is also a computer assistant in the CIE's computer lab. I thought that she would be an Engeniering student since she is an assistant there but she said that it is just her part time job and that she is not a fan of computers, it is just that she hapen to know a lot about them. Yuki is from Osaka so it takes her really long time to come to Hirakata 3 days a week to work (Japanese student have a holliday right now). Yuki was very nice talking to us and answering our questions, she also was a little bit shy. What i wanted to show in this picture is Yuki in her desk with her laptop working. At first Yuki wanted to put the peace sign then we agreed not to go with this percepective and make the picture show she really felt about working on computers while she doesnt like it. By that I wanted to take a picture that showed a bit of sadness in her eyes because she had to work there to make some money without taking away some of her natural charms.

Her name is Ai which means 'Love' in Japanese. She is a 4th year English major and speaks very good English. She has already been to the US before, and knows a lot international people, so she was not shy while talking to my friend and I. She also did not ask a lot of questions about the blog. I still gave her the information as we studied in class that we need to introduced the subject and tell people about our work especially if they are going to be a part of it. Ai is living in Hirakatachi during the period of her studies which makes it easier for her to come to school and go to her part time job in a chinese restaurant that is in near the train station. Ai likes watching movies with her friends, reading books, chatting, and hanging out. But her biggest love is music, singing karaoke and she listens to music all the time. I wanted to show this part of her personality in her picture because when I went to talk to her not only she was doing her homework but also listening to music at the same time. I asked her to hold her music player in her hands over her work to show that music comes first in her life than even studies. And she is smilling in the picture because she has a beautiful smile and I wanted to show that in the picture as well.