"Why are Japanese meals so colorful?"
We have been conducting dozens of weekly sessions since last November, with Afghanistan, Germany, Guatemala, Rwanda, and now Indonesia, but the power of inquiry never ceases to amaze and amuse me.
"In Indonesia, we tend to prioritize how it tastes, rather than how it looks, so it's so interesting to see how colorful Japanese meals are! Why do you have such colorful meals?"
"Why do you guys (Japanese people) eat raw fish?"
" (To an Indonesian participant,) What made you become such interested in Japanese culture?"
We had our second session with Indonesia on July 11th, and we talked abut the food culture as well as the current COVID-19 situation in the two countries. We had 50+ participants this time as well, and the session was full of laughter and so much learning:)
Thanks to the questions including the ones displayed above, many participants, including myself (an organizer), were able to realize that there are actually so many things that we still do not know about own culture. Even though this might seem ubiquitous to some of you, I genuinely think this mere realization is in itself a wonderful gift to take away.
One of our facilitators mentioned this.
Simply put, this project is full of "discoveries and re-discoveries".
We make discoveries about the other country and re-discoveries about our own country.
Through such discoveries, we provide and continue providing opportunities to personalize the matters of our own countries as well as those of the others'.
Next week, on the 18th, we will have a session entitled "BaTeak Time" in collaboration with the "Indonesian International Students Association in Japan Hiroshima Branch". "BaTeak Time" is a coined term made up of "Batik", a special type of cloth that is commonly employed in traditional Indonesian costumes, and "Tea Time". In the session, we will be talking about the traditional clothes and unique customs seen in the two countries!
Hope to see you all in our next session(s)!