CFC + Culture #1

Cultural Exchange #1
Wednesday's practice was not so good - the feeling of frustration and being a burden on the rest. But today was a nice way to start the weekend. I scored my first-ever goal in Japan; Tomoyuki-san said:" 日本に来てからJingwenさんがうまくなった。”Although I totally didn't understand what he saying until a few explanation attempts later, but I finally understood that he was saying... I've improved!! So made my day =).
After practice today was a teach-little-children-floorball day, and it's so amazing to see some of them holding sticks which are obviously too long for them (6~13year-olds) and yet handle them with such dexterity that belies their young age. Joined in for a little bit, and A's mother was so kind as to do the drills with me and Y-san kept asking me to join the small kids in groups. Nice. And then there's the chat with T-san and R-san, and learning about Unihockey (a sport probably only found in Japan), and just about many more random things. Both of them have been to Singapore before (T-san 4times, R-san once) and they were so funny; Singapore is known as a food haven, but the one thing that they said they kept eating there was.... MACDONALDS at Orchard Road! Gosh! Made me laugh so hard. Apparently because it was so tasty and slightly different from the Japanese Macs. Interesting haha. And they actually still kept the laminated floorball souvenirs that NUS gave them 2 years ago during the Christmas friendly!

I really liked this chat with them, because I feel like despite the huge language barrier, it's really nice to know that there are people out there who still try to communicate with you and sincerely so, despite the evident difficulties. =) Esp T-san. He's always been one of the first to actually call out my full name properly and talk to me (in Japanese). Appreciated!

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Cultural Exchange #2

I often got to practices with another teammate J - a Norwegian who has played for the Norway National Team before, and just moved to Tokyo last year after marrying his Japanese wife. Most of the team stay in Chofu, or nearby, and J is 1) the only other English-speaking person 2) the only person staying near me (ie, near Shinjuku rather than Chofu). So most travelling time is spent learning more about each other's culture and way of life and common mindsets. He made a comment today that he liked how I described Singapore as a "forward-looking country" and I found that so odd because I mentioned it a few weeks back so it must have really struck him to have stuck so well - and yet this was a very common notion and nothing special to me at all. Turns out Norway not only has 37.5hour weeks, (8 hours per day, 5 days a week, 0.5 hour lunch break), but it also has a flat societal system whereby most people get 5 weeks off per year, 1 week paid leave, many days of (singly occuring) unexcused (ie no doctor's MC) sick days, just 0.5 million population in Oslo, 6 lines that run through the central train station on ONE track, free healthcare - and yet people complain about things like not being able to get a single room for free hospital stay. The laidback pace and mindsets are worlds apart from Singapore's - but I guess the societies are in vastly different stages. Norway's a society that has probably already settled down comfortably and no longer sees the need to partake in the daily drearies of the global rat race, having found it's own niche. Singapore is so young; so eager to try everything new and have all the best and be the best. Each society faces its own perils though - the former is so comfortable that it borders dangerously on complacence, and the latter is so quick to move on that it never stops to look and appreciate its past, however short. Such striking contrasts, and SO interesting to learn about others! =)