Shizuko: "Be confident and proud of yourself and your culture"

Interviewer 记者: Ami

Translator 翻译: Ami

Editor 编辑: Ami

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ENGLISH VERSION

Can you introduce yourself?

My name is Shizuko and I am currently a grade 11 student studying abroad. I am child mixed, my father is Japanese and my mother is HongKonger. I came to Canada in grade 10 for high school, before that I was living in Hong Kong. My cultural background is not complected but still is different from other HongKongers.

(Ami: I notice that you keep your Japanese name as your English name, is there a reason why?

Shizuko: I think many Japanese choose to not have an English name, I guess because people are able to pronounce our name. For me, I like my name and the meaning of it so I just kept my original name.)

Which community you feel more connect to? and why?

I would say that I am more connected to Hong Kong where I grew up in. Just because I know its society better, I know its culture well and I feel more comfortable living in an environment that I am familiar with. But I wouldn't say that I drifted away from Japanese culture because I learned a lot about it from my father, and every year we went back to Japan to visit my father's side of the family. I like the unique culture of Japan very much, so I also want to learn more about it. (oh and we also celebrate Japanese festivals)

How do you interact with people from other cultural background?

I often like to start the communication with our similarities and then I will ask more about their culture so I will not act rude because of cultural differences. But I also think culture is not a very significant factor in friendship (especially in school) because everyone shares similar routines at school, so you can still find a lot of commons to talk about.

What are some stereotypes others may have towards your culture?

People think that HongKongers don't like Chinese people, which is partly true but I feel the news and rumours sometimes exaggerate it to grab more attention. There are still people in Hong Kong supporting the Chinese government, and there are so many of them that they can even form a group that can't be ignored. This can also bring problems to the society by increasing conflicts between the two sides and high crime rates.

（Shizuko adds: I also have many Chinese friends!)

What are some stereotypes you have towards other cultures? and how do you know they are wrong?

Before I came to Canada I though Canada is SUPER cold and people can even see polar bears in their backyard, but all of those stereotypes are being proved to be wrong after I actually moved here.

(Ami: lol very true, but there are still places are pretty cold in Canada during winter, Canada is a large country.)

What is your definition of "cultural barrier"?

I think it happens when people don't understand or misunderstand other's culture in a negative way that could cause them to act rude towards that particular group of people.

(Ami: so do you think language is included in it or separate?

Shizuko: definitely yes, and that is what usually cause the cultural barrier, because you can't explain things clear.)

What do you think about the problem of cultural barrier? is it possible to be eliminated?

cultural barrier could widen the gap between the cultural groups that should be helping and supporting each other. I think it is easier to eliminate cultural barrier between similar cultures since they probably share close historical background, like Japan and China, or US and Canada.

Do you believe cultural and language barrier could lead to other problems?

it can definitely lead to violence, like school bullying. For example, many people have the stereotype that Asians are weak and will not stand up for their peers so many Asians will become the target and the victim of bullying. But in fact many people won't choose to fight back when facing bullying because the batterer will threaten them not to tell anyone.

(Ami: can we avoid them from happening?

Shizuko: that requires communication which a lot of batterers don’t care.

Ami: How about cultural barrier? can we avoid that?

Shizuko: yes, everyone needs to be more tolerant to other cultures and people have to understand that there are no better or the best culture, all cultures should be respected.)

What would you say to someone who is facing the problem of cultural barrier or new to a community?

you need to be confident and proud of yourself and your culture to be able to interact with others from different backgrounds, as well as to be able to protect yourself.

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中文版本

可以介绍一下你自己吗？

我叫静子，目前是一名在国外学习的11年级学生。我是混血儿，爸爸是日本人，妈妈是香港人。我在高中10年级的时候来到加拿大，在那之前我住在香港。我的文化背景并不完整，但与其他香港人还是有差异的。

(Ami:我注意到你把你的日本名字作为你的英文名字，这是为什么呢?

静子:我想很多日本人选择不取英文名是因为人们能轻松的念出我们的名字。对我来说，我喜欢我的名字和它的意义，所以我就保留了我原来的名字。)

你觉得和哪个社区更亲近? 为什么?

我想我与我长大的香港联系更紧密。正因为我更了解它的社会，更了解它的文化，生活在自己熟悉的环境中会更舒服。但我不会说我因此远离了日本文化，因为我从我父亲那里学到了很多，每年我们都会回日本看望我父亲的家人。我非常喜欢日本独特的文化，所以我也希望了解更多。(哦，我们也会庆祝日本节日)

你如何与来自不同文化背景的人交流?

我经常喜欢从我们的相似之处开始交流，然后我会问更多关于他们的文化，这样我就不会因为文化差异而表现得粗鲁。但我也认为文化并不是友谊里一个非常重要的因素(尤其是在学校)，因为每个人在学校都有相似的日常活动，所以你仍然可以找到很多共同点来谈论。

别人对你们的文化有什么刻板印象?

人们认为香港人不喜欢中国人，虽然这在一定程度上是对的，但我觉得新闻和谣言有时夸大了这一点以吸引更多的关注。在香港仍然有支持中国政府的人，而且人数众多，甚至可以组成一个不容忽视的团体。但是这也会给社会带来问题，增加双方的冲突和高犯罪率。

（静子补充:我也有很多中国朋友哦！）

你对其他文化有什么刻板印象? 你怎么知道那是不对的?

在我来加拿大之前，我认为加拿大非常冷，人们甚至能在他们的后院看到北极熊，不过在我搬到这里后，所有这些刻板印象都被证明是错误的。

(Ami:哈哈，非常正确，但是加拿大的冬天仍然有一些地方很冷，加拿大是一个很大的国家。)

你对“文化隔阂”的定义是什么?

我认为当人们以一种负面的方式不去理解或误解别人的文化时，就会发生这种情况，这可能会导致他们对某些人群表现得粗鲁。

(Ami:那你认为语言是包含在这里面还是单独的?

静子:是的，语言就是通常造成文化隔阂的原因，因为你不能把事情解释清楚。)

你怎么看待文化隔阂的问题? 它有可能被解决吗?

文化隔阂会扩大本应该互相帮助和支持的文化群体之间的差距。我认为消除文化隔阂在相似文化之间更容易，因为他们可能分享相近的历史背景，比如日本和中国，或者美国和加拿大。

你认为文化和语言隔阂会导致其他问题吗? 我们要怎样才能避免它们呢?

这肯定会导致暴力，比如校园欺凌。例如，许多人有一种刻板印象，认为亚洲人是弱者，不会为他们的同龄人挺身而出，因此许多亚洲人将成为欺凌的目标和受害者。但事实上，许多人在面对欺凌时不会选择反击，因为霸凌者会威胁他们不要告诉任何人。

(Ami:我们能避免它们发生吗？

静子:这需要沟通，而很多霸凌者并不在乎。

Ami:那文化隔阂呢？我们能避免吗？

静子:可以，每个人都需要对其他文化更加宽容，人们必须明白没有更好或最好的文化，所有的文化都应该受到尊重。)

你会对那些正面临文化隔阂或刚到一个新环境的人说些什么?

你需要对自己和自己的文化感到自信和自豪，以便能够与来自不同背景的人互动，并能够保护自己。