Japanese women treated to holidays American style
Slowly but surely, Warren County resident Rhonda Dorris is learning more and more about Japanese culture. After teaching local Japanese families how to speak English for nine years, some of their traditions have sunk in.
“They enjoy American furniture, but they mostly sit on the floor,” said Dorris. “They always leave their shoes at the door and are always bowing. Most of them haven’t seen many American homes.”
Dorris remedied that over the holidays by taking some of her students to three American homes. The Japanese women are in Warren County because their husbands work for either Bridgestone or Yorozu. Some have lived here as little as two months while one family has been here almost five years.
Dorris took the women to the homes of Dean and Martha Gillespie, Ivan and Billie Cutler, and C.L. and Joyce Wallace. “They really liked the Gillespie home,” said Dorris. “Because they used to live in Japan and they have so many Japanese artifacts.”
Dorris doesn’t speak Japanese herself but she is able to roughly communicate with the ladies and teach them some English. Naturally, Dorris says there are many differences in the cultures.
“When they receive a gift, they always accept it with two hands to show their appreciation,” said Dorris. “And their homes are a lot smaller than ours and sometimes extended families all live together.”
As for diet, Dorris said the Japanese are very health conscious. They eat seaweed and drink green tea regularly. They even have green-tea flavored ice cream.
“All their snacks are individually wrapped to help keep them from overeating,” said Dorris. “Even their marshmallows are individually wrapped.”