ibunka TB_U11

4 French / female / teacher & artist / lives in Japan Cultural Pattern A: none 5 French-Japanese / female / student / lives in Japan Cultural Pattern A: none

Cultural Pattern B: When I meet complete strangers, I am rather neutral

Cultural Pattern B: If someone smiled at me in the street in France, I would be like "Do we know each other?"

6 Italian / female / engineer / has lived in Japan Cultural Pattern A: none

Cultural Pattern B: But otherwise I generally ignore them. Smiling is a way of communicating without words. If I don't feel the need to communicate, I keep a neutral expression on my face.

7 French / male / artist / lives in Japan Cultural Pattern A: none

Cultural Pattern B: I don't understand why anyone would smile at strangers in the street for no reason, so I don't.

8 American / male / architect / has lived in Japan Cultural Pattern A: none 9 American / male / teacher / lives in Japan Cultural Pattern A: I thought French people were so cold at the beginning! I didn’t get a single nod, smile, or word from anyone. But in Japan it’s even worse. I feel that people here don’t even look at each other.

Cultural Pattern B: I feel that Japanese people exchange very few casual conversations with strangers

Cultural Pattern B: none

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UNIT 11 | ONE STEP FURTHER