General Questions Thread

[Kudryavka]

So when people refer to "the West", they mean Europe and North America.

When people refer to "the East", they refer to Asia.

Where do Africa, South America and Australia fit in this equation? Do they have their own names? I know where they are literally located, but I've never seen someone refer to "the West" with pupusas and fufu in mind, or to "the East" with kangaroos and Aborigines in mind.

Thoughts?

[BradleySmith]

Im unsure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzCbEdtNbJ0

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by BradleySmith

Im unsure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzCbEdtNbJ0

That's Korean music by a popular Kpop music group, Big Bang. So no.

Or did you mean is the song imitating a Japanese style of music? Though afaik the answer to that is also no.

[willx]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

That's Korean music by a popular Kpop music group, Big Bang. So no.

Or did you mean is the song imitating a Japanese style of music? Though afaik the answer to that is also no.

My good friend is a HUGE fan of theirs and has traveled around North America to see their shows. Heck, she's in Korea right now, and I believe have caught a number of their performances there too..

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

So when people refer to "the West", they mean Europe and North America.

When people refer to "the East", they refer to Asia.

Where do Africa, South America and Australia fit in this equation? Do they have their own names? I know where they are literally located, but I've never seen someone refer to "the West" with pupusas and fufu in mind, or to "the East" with kangaroos and Aborigines in mind.

Thoughts?

"The West" has two meanings. The first is purely geographical (lands located in the West), but more commonly it seems to be used in terms of Western culture. Hence Australia is considered part of "the West" even though geographically it's part of Oceania, and Japan and South Korea are occasionally grouped in with "the West" even though they're geographically in the East and are Asian nations. (They're also Asian cultures, but culturally speaking they're more Westernized than other nations - it's a relative comparison.)

[erneiz_hyde]

When I played Anno 1404, I was rather surprised that the Middle East as referred as "The Orient", because I also thought 'oriental' meant something like China.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

"The West" has two meanings. The first is purely geographical (lands located in the West), but more commonly it seems to be used in terms of Western culture. Hence Australia is considered part of "the West" even though geographically it's part of Oceania, and Japan and South Korea are occasionally grouped in with "the West" even though they're geographically in the East and are Asian nations. (They're also Asian cultures, but culturally speaking they're more Westernized than other nations - it's a relative comparison.)

Thank you for that description.

But I wonder still if Africa and South America are considered "Western" culture by these unwritten rules?

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

When I played Anno 1404, I was rather surprised that the Middle East as referred as "The Orient", because I also thought 'oriental' meant something like China.

The original "Orient" was indeed the Middle East. For instance, the "Orient Express" was a train that ran from Paris to Istanbul, which at the time was considered in "the Orient", in fact it was the capital of the "Orient".

[HasuMasu]

In my time, I've only heard of Australia being referred to as 'down under' and Africa as 'the dark continent'.

Though technically from where I'm standing, Australia is East and Africa is West.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

But I wonder still if Africa and South America are considered "Western" culture by these unwritten rules?

Culturally speaking, the South American cultures tend to be regarded more as Latin/Latino and are their own group. Africa tends to also be regarded as its own group.

In thinking about it, perhaps the cultural distinction on its own isn't quite right. Rather, it's cultural and political. Think about the world news, where you often hear about the United States, Canada, (Western) Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Australia as being in agreement. It happens almost all of the time; they have similar goals and back each other up. The rest of the nations are generally uninvolved or opposed. When the term "the West" is used, it's usually used by people from those uninvolved or opposed nations.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Hasumi

In my time, I've only heard of Australia being referred to as 'down under' and Africa as 'the dark continent'.

Though technically from where I'm standing, Australia is East and Africa is West.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

Culturally speaking, the South American cultures tend to be regarded more as Latin/Latino and are their own group. Africa tends to also be regarded as its own group.

In thinking about it, perhaps the cultural distinction on its own isn't quite right. Rather, it's cultural and political. Think about the world news, where you often hear about the United States, Canada, (Western) Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Australia as being in agreement. It happens almost all of the time; they have similar goals and back each other up. The rest of the nations are generally uninvolved or opposed. When the term "the West" is used, it's usually used by people from those uninvolved or opposed nations.

Thanks for all this guys. It makes sense to me now.

Why, in some anime, are school disciplinary committees run by students? It seems like the one extracurricular you'd do if you wanted to get your ass whooped regularly by other students. Maybe so the cast stays full of students?

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

Why, in some anime, are school disciplinary committees run by students? It seems like the one extracurricular you'd do if you wanted to get your ass whooped regularly by other students. Maybe so the cast stays full of students?

Very simple: It's governance by the students. I don't see what's particularly strange about that.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

Very simple: It's governance by the students. I don't see what's particularly strange about that.

No, I see nothing wrong with students governing students (helping to set rules for students to follow? Since they are students they know best what students want).

It's students policing and punishing other students that seems strange to me.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

It's students policing other students that seems strange to me.

Then why is there a student council/government?

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Sumeragi

Then why is there a student council/government?

Student council doesn't punish and reprimand students when they do wrong like disciplinary committee in anime. Especially not without any input from adults on how to do it.

And government =/= police. Government just sets the law. Police just enforce it.

[LeoXiao]

Based on my experience, if you live in the US, it's rare to see students being given any sort of real power over others whatsoever. All responsibility is in the hands of the teachers and disciplinary staff. So being an American and seeing students being given such responsibilities in anime might be strange.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

Based on my experience, if you live in the US, it's rare to see students being given any sort of real power over others whatsoever. All responsibility is in the hands of the teachers and disciplinary staff.

So are you saying disciplinary committee is based in truth?

I didn't want to ask "Why is Japan like this?" for something seemingly absurd to me. That's be like asking "Are there magic ninjas in Japan? Because Naruto told me."

[LeoXiao]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

So are you saying disciplinary committee is based in truth?

IDK about Japan exactly, but I think it very well could be. Now of course everything in anime is exaggerated, but I wouldn't be surprised if students were given this kind of responsibility (and more workload, incidentally). I'll look into it.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

IDK about Japan exactly, but I think it very well could be. Now of course everything in anime is exaggerated, but I wouldn't be surprised if students were given this kind of responsibility (and more workload, incidentally). I'll look into it.

Ok, thank you.

[LeoXiao]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

Ok, thank you.

While waiting for my source to respond, I'll give a couple examples. My mom grew up in China, and she and other students had a bunch of extra work and chores the teacher(s) assigned to them, a fair bit of which was certainly not directly related to studying. Granted this was the 60s and 70s and not Japan but teher might be similarities.

When I went to high school in Germany I was surprised that each class had a couple designated representatives (forget the exact term) who were responsible for various things such as the attendance book, collecting materials the teachers might need, etc. None of this we had in the US, the students were purely there to be taught.