A typical conversation with an Asian mother…
Mom: “That’s okay. I’ll just let my body slowly and painfully wither away as it feeds off itself due to a lack of food. Maybe there’s some dirt outside I could eat so I don’t go hungry. Is that okay or will that be too noisy for you? The important thing is I don’t inconvenience you.”
You: “Fine. I’ll go to the store and pick up some Ritz crackers.”
The point of this performance is to demonstrate how Asians favor the melodramatic. We don’t cry, we wail. We don’t get mad, we wail. We don’t Jenga, we wail. If you ever get the chance, watch a non-reality TV show from Asia. I was viewing one with my parents once. It was basically an hour of people gasping in disbelief, anguish, suffering and of course, wailing. When I asked the people who made me what kind of drama this was, they informed me this was a comedy.
Why all the theatrics? I would argue that when it comes to emotional situations Asians don’t know how to react, so we overreact. Dr. Woo Jong-Min, a psychiatrist at Paik Hospital (in Seoul, Korea), agrees. According to him, “[Koreans] are particularly vulnerable to vexation in daily life. They don’t know how to quell and vent anger. They have learned to compete at their schools and workplaces, but never learned how to relax and vent their frustrations.”
You need to understand that Asian culture is not one of self-help books and Dr. Phil. We don’t voluntarily take a year off to “recharge our batteries”. We’re taught to take responsibility for everything. I think one of the appeals of Caucasian culture to Bananas like me is this willingness to get in touch with your emotions and blame other people’s political party for all our problems. I’m not saying Asian culture is this robotic, unfeeling thing or that it’s wrong. After all, we’re big on meditation. It’s just different.
Well, it’s time for me to go and watch Jerry Springer to feel better about myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment