In Japan, many people enjoy food or their own space alone without having any regard for anybody else at the restaurant where there is a seat designated as a “Seat for 1 Person”. Feeling relaxed or enjoying oneself by eating at a seat where there is a partition wall or a curtain for closing off oneself in a room was something unthinkable in my generation. These days, communication completed on the Internet without facing each other affects their real lives, and the tendency that they aren’t concerned with somebody seems to begin to appear.
When going abroad, we won’t find a “Seat for 1 Person” or get stuck or even end up not finding any of one’s own existence in an instant if we don’t express ourselves. If we don’t try to connect with anybody in any way, our everyday lives or jobs will not get done successfully. There’s going to be trouble all the time even with a phone call or a means of transportation. For example, in Japan, when having a meal, we don’t need to think too much. We just consult with money and our stomachs, so that everything will be fine. That’s not going to work as well here. In other words, we’re getting tired of the environment where we have to think of every little thing one by one. However, the situation where we are right now is of no choice. It may be troublesome to compare it to Japan’s world and smaller scope, but it may be a good opportunity to challenge oneself. These days, expressing one’s ideas about what one wants to do has become something that is linked to one’s existence as well as communicating with other people, which would bring about a mutual understanding.
Regarding this point, Cambodian people, who are good at several languages, would be confident in their communication. Sometimes it is reliable, however, it makes me feel just how fruitless I am. The Japanese people who are known as polite people are poor at appealing to themselves. As it’s usual, even if there’s anything happening when going to the hospital, Cambodian people could express themselves in English with smiles. Seeing that situation, just makes one feel upset about not being to express oneself about one’s own physical condition. However, it’s not all about words, but also about body language. Having frantically tried to move one’s hands or body showing that it is “painfully hard to bear”, would relieve the mutual tension, and bring about even a little smile instead. In the gap between countries, a small and detailed thing in the business world may cause a big expense or misunderstanding at a later stage. That is to say, if we frantically try to explain the only thing two or three times until our listener could understand and get satisfied with what we have explained, of course, it’s going to become utterly exhausted. The word, “Seat for 1 Person”, would not come out anyway. It doesn’t mean that enjoying one’s own space and time is lonely or vulnerable. By just taking a walk outside, there’re lots of important ways that could make oneself known, and if that’s not applied in daily life, despair would be inevitable. That is to say, “it’s a real pity to try to close off oneself from making friends with people”. Moreover, a person that one cares about so much doesn’t care about anybody, and there would be much more pity to consider that the person nearby is predestined as a fateful encounter.
Self-expression and mutual understanding can break through various differences.
