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**Initial Meetings
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**Definition= The orientation stage
The meeting at the beggining
How April/September/OYR students find themselves in situations where they have a chance to meet each other.
Time: usually noon or early night
Place: public spaaces
Participations: everybody and everyage
Language to communicate: English, Japanese and so on
The purpose:finding friends
Kind: ELP, JLP, Club, Class, Party and so on
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**Analysis
1:Findig someone: It may be matter to find someone to talk with for some people. At the first of meeting, they select the persong whom talk with carefully.
On the other hand, other person do not mind that.
2:Starting chat: When some people find suitable person to talk, they approach the person with shyly. And asking where the person lives, how old the person is, or which club the person join, they start the talking. If they find the common points (same hobby or same hometown), they are feelings rather better. However their nervous will continue. On the other hand,
3:During conversation:
4:The latter of meeting:
- Analysis 1 : Courtney
One of the main problems between the groups at ICU, the OYRs, the September students and the April students seems to be actually meeting one another. In Japan there are certain ways one normally makes friends, such as joining a club or living in the dorms. But many of the students do not have these opportunities. For example, many clubs do not want OYR students, who are preoccupied with traveling and are only at ICU for a year anyway. Compared to other Japanese universities, a relatively small number of people join clubs at ICU. So ICU students are already at a disadvantage when it comes to meeting people.
A basic characteristic of forming Japanese relationships seems to be the consideration of the benefit of the relationship beforehand, because in Japan, individuals are not so much considered for their own ability, but who they know. Relationships in Japan are therefore taken very seriously, maintained, nurtured, and sometimes extinguished. To many OYRs, this is a strange process...especially to many Americans, who make friends with anyone, anywhere, and for any reason, and rely on their own personal ability to make it in life rather than the relationships they form.
Despite all these things, even if an opportunity arises for OYRs and Japanese students to make friends, there are still many barriers to be dealt with. For many students from abroad, (particularly Americans? Californians?) meeting someone new is an opportunity to start fresh and create new bonds, and diving into a new relationship is exciting. But for Japanese people, meeting new people seems to cause a lot of stress. Japanese people are concerned about 間合いのつめかた, which means how/when to progress in a relationship (suggestions on explanation?), a concept that most foreigners are thoroughly unaware of. The context of a situation and the ability to "read the air" dictates the appropriate behavior in Japanese mind, but for [Americans], personality and individual compatibility determine how the relationship will progress.
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**Examples / Actual Cases
- courtney
Many OYRs initially were interested in joining the Smooth Step circle, which would have been a great way to interact with Japanese students however, it turned out that the Smooth Steppers didn't want OYR students because they couldn't participate in March practices. The practice seemed to made as to completely discourage OYR participation.
It also seems that many Japanese people feel intimidated by foreigners joining clubs! Smooth Step didn't want foreign girls because they are "too cute"
(can i even say this??? it's kind of negative...)
(I think we shouldnt put specific people or group name) -Daisuke
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**Solution / Recommendation / Suggestion etc.
- Solution 1 : Courtney
It is impossible to tell Japanese people to give up on their mindset, so the best thing for a foreigner in Japan to do is understand how Japanese people approach making new relationships. Foreigners should take the initiative when it comes to making Japanese friends, and they should also be aware of "imposing" too much of their own personality on sensitive situations; ie any first meeting one has with Japanese people they hope to befriend!
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