Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.
Reverse Culture Shock? Or does my daddy not remember the way things were correctly?
Reverse Culture Shock
Are all Americans clueless to the effects they have on other people?
Are all Americans absorbed only in their space alone and not what’s around them?
In Japan, for example, being an island country, people are very conscientious of who is in front, in back, to the left and right. Lots of people in a small place – you have to be that way.
But in the US? Doesn’t seem so. Or maybe these people are in need of some amazing grace.
More questions –
Does anybody really care or ever think about what is behind them?
Do people really only always look ahead?
Is anyone ever conscious of who they might be impeding?
Does anybody look behind them to see who is gaining on them?
Does anybody ever worry about who might be about to gobble them up from behind?
Do you know that there are people who want to take your place?
Is it possible that danger lurks behind you and you aren’t aware?
Yesterday, some dude (Daddy’s word) parked himself on a machine at the gym and just sat there.
At the coffee shop, some woman stood in front of the coffee machine and backed up and moved forward and backed up and … clueless to who she might or might not run into or step on.
And theses instances are unique.
Daddy said he got used to the habit of looking in the mirror when he drives. One day he got stopped on the highway due to some strawberry jam up in front of him. He looked in the mirror and a large pickup truck was barreling toward him and the driver was looking sideways and chatting.
Daddy moved his car to the shoulder on the left. The truck behind him screeched. Stopped. And missed his car. But would have crashed into him had he not been aware of what was behind him and who was coming.
Hmm … I’d better start wearing a mirror.
Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.
Dear Bill,
I am a self-published author and virtually unknown. I have written a book which largely takes place in China. One chapter deals with young children in China. In my research, I came across the idea of open crotch pants used with toddlers. I would like your permission to use your photo of open crotch pants in my book. How shall I notate the photographer? Thank you so much for your help.
Barbara
You have my permission. This picture was open source and I acquired it long ago. No permission is necessary unless you would like to give credit to another self-published pair of co-authors. My daughter and I co-author our own series of books that you can find on our home page. Thanks for reading!