A Tale of Two Countries

This is an essay I wrote while I was at high school: A Tale of Two Countries. Accurate or not, it talks about my observation of the difference between Japan and China at the time.

At the age of 5, I moved to a foreign country: Japan.

Scene No. 1: A few girls promised to meet at 4pm outside the school gate. It’s 4pm, and all of them arrived on time.

Comment: Japanese children tend to have shaped good habits since a young age. They are punctual and polite.

Scene No. 2: In a train, all passengers are sat quietly, each person minding their own business.

Comment: Many people in Japan don’t like to talk with strangers and they try to avoid disturbing others. It reflects both the politeness and some indifference between people.

Scene No. 3: In a Japanese company, a Chinese employee is sat there by himself. His Japanese colleagues are talking to each other. It’s not as if he likes to be by himself but he doesn’t join the others, perhaps he is not comfortable talking with his Japanese colleagues or perhaps he doesn’t think the others would want him to join.

Comment: Foreigners, especially those from developing countries, can get discriminated against or feel the pressure of being a foreigner.

After graduating from primary school in Japan, I went back to China.

Scene No. 4: My very first class in middle school has ended. I shook my head and sighed as I looked at my notebook – there were so many points that I didn’t understand, and so many points I couldn’t put down in my notes. Then someone patted on my shoulder. I turned around. It was the girl sitting behind me. She passed me her notebook with a smile. “Here, take mine and copy across my notes”, she said. “If you want, I can go to yours after school and help you with your homework.”

Comment: When I was first back in China, I was more like a Japanese girl. My Chinese was poor, and I behaved differently. However, my classmates were so warm and keen to help.

Scene No. 5: It’s 9am. An activity that was scheduled to start at 8pm hadn’t started.

“What’s going on here? Why didn’t they finish the preparation work yesterday? How come they are still doing the preparation now?”

“I don’t know. But isn’t it normal that things don’t start on time?”

Comment: Compared with Japanese people, Chinese people don’t pay as much attention to detail or discipline. Similar examples include talking loudly in a public place, and not giving other people advance notice about what will happen.

A few years has passed now. By comparing different countries, I learnt the importance of tolerance. I can’t draw a simple conclusion as to whether Japan or China is a better country; they are simply different. We can’t expect a person to be perfect; we can’t expect a country to be so either.