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	abufletcher Site Supporter	Joined: March/11/2004 United States Posts: 9512 IP Logged
Posted: July/06/2018 at 11:07am		Quote

Quote: The Wirtzer

Abufletcher - My major in college was Comparitive Religion with a concentration in Buddhism. That led to the monastic time in Thailand. The major never helped me in the job market but it sure helped me understanding cultures, including my own.

My mother was a comparative religion major, though I think the focus at that time (in the 50s) was probably more on the history of Christianity. For many years I taught a course here in Japan entitled "Cross Cultural Awareness" and in addition to examining different cultural thoughts on race (In Arabia "red people" are Europeans and "green people" are "Moslem blacks" while in Japan "red people" are Polynesian) I also had units on various religions. I had my students consider the ways that Japanese are, and are not, religious and what is Buddhist and what is Shinto. But they also learned how and when Moslems pray (and got to practice their pronunciation of /l/ sounds by repeating "La illa ila Allah wa Mohammed ar-rasul Allah." I taught each student how to write his or her name in Arabic and during Ramadhan had students participate in a mini 2-day dawn-to-dusk fast...and journal about the experience. We also looked at Jewish traditions and explored creation myths from various cultures. I almost can't remember the person I was before I moved overseas at age 26. Even before moving, I had already married into another culture and another language (that of Mexico).

This last photo is of my mother-in-law and my niece (who was raised by my mother-in-law) in their small village in Sinaloa. I've traveled to over 40 countries and everywhere I go people are people.

	The Wirtzer Lifetime Site Supporter	Joined: April/23/2018 United States Posts: 49 IP Logged
Posted: July/06/2018 at 4:07pm		Quote

Great Photos!

40 Countries?!?! Wow! I've only got 12.

I have so many great memories of the people I've met in my travels, including my first wife (now deceased) who was Japanese. I met her in Japan. I tell my son that there was a time when I thought it was stupid to have to learn a second language as a college requirement because "I live in the US and people should speak English here." Then I went abroad in college and learned Thai and Japanese (becoming fluent in Japanese), and now I can't ever imagine that I actually said that. I think of all the stuff I would have missed with a closed mind like that and - like you said - I don't recognize that 18-year-old person that was me.

I think its really cool that you had your Japanese students experience the fasting of Ramadan. I also think that it was good to have them think about how they are Buddhist and Shinto at the same time and think on the qualities of each and how each religion affects their daily lives. Most Japanese will say they have no religion or are not religious and yet Buddhism and Shinto permeate the culture down to daily activities. Its pretty fascinating.

I often wish that everyone had to travel and live in a different culture for at least a year. I think it would really make them value their own culture more and also give them a glimpse of their culture from the OUTSIDE as well as giving them an understanding of how others live and what's important to other people and cultures.

Well, enough of the pontificating.

	abufletcher Site Supporter	Joined: March/11/2004 United States Posts: 9512 IP Logged
Posted: July/06/2018 at 8:12pm		Quote

Somehow despite having lived in Japan for 20 years, I have only accumulated a basic level of Japanese. This is odd since I'm generally a good language learner (though not always a proactive one). I think there are some social factors at work. In my experience Westerners who attain a high level of Japanese competence fall into three basic categories: 1) young people, for example those who come as JETs or on exchange programs...maybe that's a particularly "social" age, 2) those with a Japanese spouse, which seems near universal for Western males, and 3) professional scholars of Japanese. I'm none-of-the-above. My family and I moved to Japan when I was about 42. At that age most Japanese men occupy almost their whole lives with work. Sometimes it seems that Japanese men don't have "friends" in the casual sense of "people you do things with" (other than perhaps drinking). Anyway, enough excuses.

BTW, my Dad was born in Minnesota and his mother was 100% Swedish and spoke only Swedish as a child. But when she started going to school she became embarrassed about speaking Swedish so by the time she was an adult she had completely forgotten how to speak it. My grandmother on my mother's side got her start as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse on the plains of Kansas, where she taught German-speaking Mennonite children how to speak English...which at the time was called "Americanization" class.

Here's a joke:

Two Japanese business are standing on a street corner in LA talking to each other in Japanese...of course. A guy comes up to them and he's very angry. He shouts: "Don't speak Japanese! You're in America, now!!! Speak Spanish!!!"

Well, this has been quite a detour from Scale RC building. I apologize for that. But it's interesting to know that we are all more than just CA-sniffing hobbyists!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programing.

	Skyediamonds Site Supporter	Joined: April/03/2018 United States Posts: 2666 IP Logged
Posted: July/07/2018 at 12:35am		Quote

Gosh. Gee-wheez,

You guys have really set the bar very high for the rest of us folks here in the modeling world. All I was able to do was have a limousine pick up my wife & I, and the grandkids and go to some ol' baseball game and enjoy the Fourth of July fireworks afterward.

Of course, prior to all that, our own kids traveled to several countries in Europe with my daughter becoming fluent in Spanish & French and my son fluent in computer & aviation-speak.

Skye

3) This was coming back at night, when the interior of the limo really came onto its own.

	abufletcher Site Supporter	Joined: March/11/2004 United States Posts: 9512 IP Logged
Posted: July/07/2018 at 2:07am		Quote

A limo to a ball game on the 4th of July! Love it!!!

That's something I've never done!

	Skyediamonds Site Supporter	Joined: April/03/2018 United States Posts: 2666 IP Logged
Posted: July/10/2018 at 12:45am		Quote

LoL... Glad you enjoyed my chic humor. It was one of those "chance of a lifetimes" where money and time actually cooperated together. The company that operated the shuttle buses that I drive, also has a fleet of limousines and I was able to get a small discount. The kids obviously didn't really fully comprehend the limo, except to see all of those strange lights. Best part? Seeing the astonished looks of the bystanders looking at us as we exited from the limo.

We had a great time on the Fourth. Fireworks were really spectacular. The kids and Marla had a great time.

Well, I'll soon be checking out the PC-10 and back to work on the Mustang. Still waiting for Flite Metal. Really looking forward to comparing it with chrome vinyl.

Take care gentlemen.

Gary

	Sparky Lifetime Site Supporter Head Curmudgeon	Joined: February/10/2004 United States Posts: 7099 IP Logged
Posted: July/10/2018 at 9:45am		Quote

The company i used to work for allowed a for commercial transport if the travel budget allowed. So I frequently used the service. I had to tell them to quit sending the Stretch Black Limo out for the pickup. The neighbors were worried some one had died or I was part of the Mafia.
Yes, the onlookers happened when you stepped out of vehicle, especially if the driver beat me to opening the door. I preferred the min stretch to avoid the rubber neckers. SUV back seats are not as comfortable as the front seats I discovered as well.
Great memories for the kids.
Sparky

	prois Lifetime Site Supporter	Joined: November/28/2015 United States Posts: 829 IP Logged
Posted: July/10/2018 at 10:37am		Quote

Gee, i don't know if i fit in with you high class birds...

__________________

Patrick

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