This video conference went much
smoother than when we first met. Due to the fact that we did not face any
technical difficulties, I was able to hear the Swedish students much more
clearly, and thus have a more complete conversation. I thought that the smaller
groups were much more effective in terms of actually learning about the topics
and concepts.
During
the small group discussion, we spent most of our time talking about “cool
Japan”. I had actually never heard of this concept and neither did the other
two U.S. students in my group. Therefore, the Swedish student did most of the
talking, while the U.S. students were able to ask him questions using the
messaging tool so we did not interrupt his lecture. He was extremely detailed
in teaching us about this concept and actually gave about a five minute lecture
on the basic facts of what this cultural concept means, and his own opinion of
the trend. Due to the fact that he was giving us so much information at once, I
was not able to fully grasp all of
the various aspects that are included this overarching theme: “cool Japan”.
However, I did get a lot out of what he was saying and was able to come up with
some questions to ask him.
I
felt as though because we were able to have a more effective conversations due
to the lack of technical difficulties, that we were able to draw connections
with a variety of other themes we had learned in the class that semester. For
example, Dan, actually reminded me of my show and tell topic from the beginning
of the semester, when I wrote about Japanese clothing. I realized then, that
some of the clothing trends in Japan were directly related to the themes we
were discussing in the video conference such as “cool Japan” and “cuteness”. I
then mentioned this to the Swedish student and we were able to smoothly
transition from the small group into the big group to discuss the topic of
“cute Japan” and “cuteness.”
Overall,
these video conferences are definitely enjoyable and it is always interesting to
have a conversation with an individual from a different country. Considering
this is a class about culture, it is definitely important to get a
cross-cultural perspective in regards to various aspects of Japanese society.
In both video conferences we normally discuss the themes and concepts of
Japanese culture with a comparison of U.S. culture. However, with the Swedish
students, we are able to compare and contrast Japanese culture with the Swedish
culture as well, which is definitely an interesting view point and one that is
unfamiliar to us.
