An interest in other cultures...

I have one.

Specifically, how people from other cultures view American influence on their own. At the moment, its mostly focused on England or the UK. Anyone from other countries care to comment?

Here's a few topics to consider:

How much influence does American music(the most applicable would probably be rock or rap) have? Do people like (or even know of) Tupac, Disturbed, Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, Eminem, Biggy, Rihanna, or any other artists that are popular in and native to America?

What do you imagine a typical American girl to be like? How about a typical American guy?

How has American culture affected your diet?

How do you think America has influenced fashion in your country? Is it good or bad?

In what ways does American culture clash with your own?

Are there any American customs or common gestures that you find humourus or strange?

Oh another topic idea I forgot about:
For those primarily English speaking countries, what do you think of the "American accent"? How about the southern drawl?

No one ever answered me here. I has a sad.

One of my teachers said that Michael Jackson was really big in China when he visited. Dunno about now.

Interesting.

Lyra said:

I have one.

Specifically, how people from other cultures view American influence on their own. At the moment, its mostly focused on England or the UK. Anyone from other countries care to comment?

Here's a few topics to consider:

How much influence does American music(the most applicable would probably be rock or rap) have? Do people like (or even know of) Tupac, Disturbed, Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, Eminem, Biggy, Rihanna, or any other artists that are popular in and native to America?

What do you imagine a typical American girl to be like? How about a typical American guy?

How has American culture affected your diet?

How do you think America has influenced fashion in your country? Is it good or bad?

In what ways does American culture clash with your own?

Are there any American customs or common gestures that you find humourus or strange?

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I'm Canadian, so most of your questions really don't apply to me. As for the American accent or southern drawl, I have no view point on them; other than it causes me to notice them a little more when talking to a stranger.

My in-laws are Korean. And most of their views on Americans aren't all that...... =/
For whatever reason.

My one BIL though, his wife is pretty cool. She loves American fashion and music. She says it's better than what's in Korea, more edgy and trendy. Though she does like her Korean music, haha! She also likes the relaxed atmosphere in America better. She claims it allows you more opportunity. And I laugh too b/c she also says she finds American soaps to be silly... yet she watches those K-dramas. Ever watch one of those? Anyone who watches those and gets all into them and then says that American soaps are bad, well...... yeah. I LOL at you. XD

Ugh, I live in Korea DA, and I think Korean dramas are just... bad.
There is a lot of American influence in this country, but in my opinions, Koreans are very "We're #1" mentality. So while they've adopted some American cultures, they've sort of made it their own. It's kind of a fusion.
Oh, and none of the Koreans I know can tell a difference between American accents (Northwest tradition vs Southern, for example), but they can tell the difference between British English, American English and Australian accents. My accent, because it's American, is incredibly simple for them to understand, but bring in an Australian and they zone out.

LOL, Beefy! I couldn't agree more. Obviously. Those K-dramas make my head spin. Seriously. Who thinks those things up??? I want to know so that I can shoot them.

ANI!!!!!!!!!! OPA!!!!!!!! ANI!!!!!!!!! *wails and sobs, collapses onto knees, dies*

Silliness! XD

ANI! SHIRO! OPA!

I am currently living in Japan, Okinawa to be exact and there was one thing that I heard about but I didn't believe. People I work with blame MTV for this but white guys are at kind of a disadvantage here... apparently the whole rapper culture is really big over here. Its funny, I went out with my friend Blackman the other night (His real name, its ironic). From the moment he walked in to the moment he left the girls were all over him while I just watched in amazement...

Google said:

I am currently living in Japan, Okinawa to be exact and there was one thing that I heard about but I didn't believe. People I work with blame MTV for this but white guys are at kind of a disadvantage here... apparently the whole rapper culture is really big over here. Its funny, I went out with my friend Blackman the other night (His real name, its ironic). From the moment he walked in to the moment he left the girls were all over him while I just watched in amazement...

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That's really interesting, and it's semi true.
My Japanese friends were a little afraid of black guys. None of them ever said anything about being attracted to them.
In Korea, there is a general dislike for Korean women to marry black men. I've been told by Koreans it's because it's a "bad mix" and makes bad kids or something.
Koreans also don't like bald people, because it's "bad genetics".
So if you're bald and black, gtfo of Korea.

Schezwan.Beefy said:

ANI! SHIRO! OPA!

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LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now my sides hurt. XD

Schezwan.Beefy said:

Google said:

I am currently living in Japan, Okinawa to be exact and there was one thing that I heard about but I didn't believe. People I work with blame MTV for this but white guys are at kind of a disadvantage here... apparently the whole rapper culture is really big over here. Its funny, I went out with my friend Blackman the other night (His real name, its ironic). From the moment he walked in to the moment he left the girls were all over him while I just watched in amazement...

Click to expand...

That's really interesting, and it's semi true.
My Japanese friends were a little afraid of black guys. None of them ever said anything about being attracted to them.
In Korea, there is a general dislike for Korean women to marry black men. I've been told by Koreans it's because it's a "bad mix" and makes bad kids or something.
Koreans also don't like bald people, because it's "bad genetics".
So if you're bald and black, gtfo of Korea.

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My hubs has an extremely interesting view on Koreans, being a Korean. He tells me that, for the most part, Koreans aren't overly thrilled when other Koreans marry/date/whatever outside the race. It's apparently very looked down upon. It's partly why they (especially the older generations) are so insane about setting people up on dates and the like. In hopes to ensure a Korean/Korean match up. It's really rather humorous. I can't even begin to tell you how many freakin' times my now MIL and my now BILs' wives tried to set up my now hubs while he and I were dating. It seriously made me sooo mad. And they wonder why I don't like them.... =/ But I digress. But yeah. They did that. Hubs said that when the sons and/or daughters of his parents friends were found to be dating or engaged to anyone who wasn't Korean, everyone in their little Korean circle would start to whisper and gossip and talk about how sorry they were for them and that sort of thing. Rather disturbing to hear that. But, at least with my hubs' family and his family's friends... that's how it was/is. Of course. I do think that this improves with each passing generation. Each one becomes more and more accepting. Even still. It's interesting to see that a lot of them think that way.

Well Oki is a lot different from the mainland Japan, so don't be shocked if things don't hold up from there to here. From my understanding the whole fashion scene here is about ten years behind, so gangsta rap is just on its way out for the new wave indie band sort of thing

When I visited Japan to visit my relatives I learned really quickly to tell people I was "white" instead of "half-Japanese." It was really surprising to see how quickly people would go from "You delightful foreigner!" to "You need to get out of my store/presence/world." That was almost ten years ago though (I learned well enough to not repeat that later).

I found that most people didn't much care about foreigners unless they tried to date people. A lot of "gay" men or at least same-sex desiring men (Japanese male sexuality tends to be a lot more fluid than western sexuality) seemed to like white men but the idea of Japanese women liking white men was demonized.

Sadly, America was looked upon as a sexually liberated place by the Japanese, and still rather is. It scares me that America is seen as sexually liberated anywhere.

Misanthropiclove said:

When I visited Japan to visit my relatives I learned really quickly to tell people I was "white" instead of "half-Japanese." It was really surprising to see how quickly people would go from "You delightful foreigner!" to "You need to get out of my store/presence/world." That was almost ten years ago though (I learned well enough to not repeat that later).

I found that most people didn't much care about foreigners unless they tried to date people. A lot of "gay" men or at least same-sex desiring men (Japanese male sexuality tends to be a lot more fluid than western sexuality) seemed to like white men but the idea of Japanese women liking white men was demonized.

Sadly, America was looked upon as a sexually liberated place by the Japanese, and still rather is. It scares me that America is seen as sexually liberated anywhere.

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Try working the search pit in a military base in Japan, these truck drivers love their fucked up porno

Misanthropiclove said:

When I visited Japan to visit my relatives I learned really quickly to tell people I was "white" instead of "half-Japanese." It was really surprising to see how quickly people would go from "You delightful foreigner!" to "You need to get out of my store/presence/world." That was almost ten years ago though (I learned well enough to not repeat that later).

I found that most people didn't much care about foreigners unless they tried to date people. A lot of "gay" men or at least same-sex desiring men (Japanese male sexuality tends to be a lot more fluid than western sexuality) seemed to like white men but the idea of Japanese women liking white men was demonized.

Sadly, America was looked upon as a sexually liberated place by the Japanese, and still rather is. It scares me that America is seen as sexually liberated anywhere.

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I'm not sure if there are any similarities to how some (or even the majority) of Japanese feel in this subject with Koreans, but........... I've learned with my hubs' family, that they are much more accepting of mixed race couples if the woman is Korean. I have no experience with same sex relationships, so this is only from a het relationship stand point. BUT... apparently, though it's a patriarchical culture, it's the female who traditionally 'runs the home'. Therefore, if the female is Korean... so is the home. If the female is white (whatever race) then it's that. So they fear more for their Korean men who enter serious relationships with white women. Quite a lot.

It's funny... but when you look around, at least in America, how frequently do you see Asian male/white female? Not often. It's almost always the other way around. Almost always.

darkangel76 said:

Misanthropiclove said:

When I visited Japan to visit my relatives I learned really quickly to tell people I was "white" instead of "half-Japanese." It was really surprising to see how quickly people would go from "You delightful foreigner!" to "You need to get out of my store/presence/world." That was almost ten years ago though (I learned well enough to not repeat that later).

I found that most people didn't much care about foreigners unless they tried to date people. A lot of "gay" men or at least same-sex desiring men (Japanese male sexuality tends to be a lot more fluid than western sexuality) seemed to like white men but the idea of Japanese women liking white men was demonized.

Sadly, America was looked upon as a sexually liberated place by the Japanese, and still rather is. It scares me that America is seen as sexually liberated anywhere.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if there are any similarities to how some (or even the majority) of Japanese feel in this subject with Koreans, but........... I've learned with my hubs' family, that they are much more accepting of mixed race couples if the woman is Korean. I have no experience with same sex relationships, so this is only from a het relationship stand point. BUT... apparently, though it's a patriarchical culture, it's the female who traditionally 'runs the home'. Therefore, if the female is Korean... so is the home. If the female is white (whatever race) then it's that. So they fear more for their Korean men who enter serious relationships with white women. Quite a lot.

It's funny... but when you look around, at least in America, how frequently do you see Asian male/white female? Not often. It's almost always the other way around. Almost always.

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I know that in Korea, if you were to say you were raised in America or you're a halfie, you're considered a Gyopo and looked down upon because it looks as though your parents abandoned their country and you're disloyal to it.

I'm not so positive about what you're saying, DA, because I've heard Korean women tell me they have to do what their husband says because they're still the woman (Confucius thinking is still prevalent). So while they make a lot of home decisions, their husbands can over ride them, though they usually make these decisions because they're home more for... whatever reason. Men women get divorced far less in Korea, and also in Japan, because it's heavily frowned upon and looked at as a disservice to your children. I knew a single mother with two grown children, but they led very hard lives because of it. Koreans say they stay married because of "kibun", which is hard to translate into English, but it's basically because they have loyalty and love for them even if they aren't "in love" with them. I think this is the reason there is a ton of promiscuity in Korea, more so than (dare I say) America. Or maybe it just feels that way because the country is so small? I'm not sure.

I love K-dramas....


that is all--

PS. American soaps are to sparkly for me~

Well, men are allowed more indiscretions in Asian countries, at least Japan. In Japan the wife/mother is non-sexualized. The moment she gives birth it is pretty much that she stops being a "woman" and becomes a "mother."

Or, as I heard quoted before, "Why would I wish to have sex with my wife? She is FAMILY."

Holy crap, people posted. lol

I lived in Japan for a few years. It didn't seem like white guys had much trouble finding girlfirends, but then I lived on the "mainland." it seems odd to call it that as its still an island.