Bicultural? Tricultural?

Just a tiny part of my fabric stash

     We've just returned from a few days back in Japan.  It was more for business than pleasure -- Hubby had to do a visa run and I had banking to do.  Then, of course there was Japanese fabric management!  I own a ton of it, lovingly collected over two dozen years.  It's all in bins, stacked up and (mostly) labelled by type.  Folks often ask me what I intend to do with it, and I ask myself the same question from time to time.  Dunno what I'll do with it. But then, does Jay Leno know what he's going to do with all those extremely expensive classic cars and motorbikes he collects?  (Do I sound a bit defensive here?)  One thing I do know is that I can't bring it over here to Penang--not unless we someday get a place with lots of indoor, temperature-controlled storage.  Even in bins like these, my lovely Japanese fabrics wouldn't last a month in Malaysia's hot and humid climate.  Well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Just FYI, this is NOT my hubby!

         While Hubby was at his Saturday morning meeting in Tokyo, I succumbed to the "call of the antiques" and went to a temple fair.  (I didn't buy much, honest!) There I saw a fellow who'd worked much harder on his "look" than I ever do.  Here he is, dressed in his retro Meiji Period look.  (The Meiji Era, from 1868 to 1912, was Japan's version of the Industrial Revolution.)  This lad clearly scouts the flea markets and antique fairs to find just the right garments and accessories to make him look like he lived 100 years ago.  But how can anybody be as slim as that?


     Anyway, back to biculturalism. I've heard that if you can drop into and out of each culture smoothly and without hesitation, then you can consider yourself to be truly bicultural.  Language ability helps, but it's more about feeling comfortable in whichever culture you find yourself.  This trip made us both think we've  accomplished that. 'Course we do still compare Japanese and Malaysian cultures, which really isn't fair to do, since each surely has its good points and bad.

        One thing we did appreciate greatly about Japan is how smooth-running it is.  All things run like clockwork and there's precision and dependability in everything that happens.  That's great and we love it.  On the other hand, Malaysia represents cheerful, happy-go-lucky chaos.  Nothing seems to work as it should, but hey, nobody really cares too much.  Both have their place, of course.

 Pets aren't allowed in our condo, but maybe this...?

    At Narita Airport, I saw yet another example of how precise and particular everything is in Japan, as evidenced by this child's hand-crafted toy.  Would a Japanese teacher ever say, "Here are some milk cartons.  Let's make animals!"  Oh, no!  The teacher would spend hours and hours of her own time, cutting up the cartons just so, covering them with brown paper, cutting out little black circles to make the eyes, etc.  And then she'd say, "Today, children, we're going to make doggies.  Here are all the things you'll need to make yours."  And at the end of the day, every kid would have a carefully-crafted milk carton dog--perfect in every detail. And all of them would be the same.  


    So, which way is better?  Nobody can say.    Just cultural difference, lah!