1. Differences in minds ....
It does not matter you are atheist or very religious, but Religion in many aspects inside our culture ,
our life's philosophy
and look:
- Dragon
Did you think that
in Western countries mythology - Dragon is the symbol of Evil ?
All good persons / and for sure - knights / have to fight and to kill Dragon.
To kill Dragon inside yourself - this is the way to be saint ....
I am not a “western”, I am a Russian and we have our own mythology, but
WHAT IS DRAGON FOR VIETNAMESE ?
P.S. I lived in Latin America , and must say -
It seems to me - Vietnamese' dragons in some aspects are similar to Quetzalcoatl
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2. Differences in languages ....
as a reflection of diff. in life's philosophy
Look
In English
Soul has only human. -
Human may be He/She
Everything other - only It
Dogs, cats and so on - may become He / She , but ... rarely .
In Russian
Soul has practically everything.
Even rivers (she) , hills (he) , stones (he) ...
In Spanish - more or less like in Russian
WHAT ABOUT VIETNAMESE ?
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3. Differences in perception of forms.
We put some “character” to forms and animals .
I call this - “ totem ” ( Latin America leave a mark in my perception of life )
Let's look at this
Cats
I have heard that in your villages people do not like cats, as ” demons of dark ''
but on the other side - villagers like tigers.
In my country we like all cats.
Tigers, manuls, lynx, city cats - they are cats for Russians (big or small).
Snake
Not so easy
But even in Russia there are differences.
In Eastern part of Russia /I lived in Siberia/ there are no poison snakes,
and in mythology of Siberians
the Gods of nature or Spirits of places (mountains, forests ) may take form of snake.
The snake has characteristic - wise, flexible , danger, if
“inside of the snake” is a woman - she is nice-looking .
WHAT ABOUT VIETNAMESE ?
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4. Art
From the very beginning .
If we compare with Westerns - You (Asians) have different point of view in minds and reflecting it in art.
If you can bring it to Westerns you .... win the price !
I like to make photos and I see that Vietnamese photographers got
many prices because of differences in “angle” of view with
Westerns.
The picture is not so successful but
WHAT PICTURE RENDER THE LIFE IN VIETNAM?
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Films - I saw several Vietnamese films.
Many of them are “too Asian” for me , but they give me
opportunity to see “your point of view”, how you live or imagine
“average” life .
I like “adoption” for Western - for example - “ Scandal” by
editor Vu, but I understand that it is “simplified”
( truthfully speaking I like Asian mystic-films ,
and I put for you here a modern-version of Russian - mystic film - to compare
It is a pity I could not find it in English )
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5. Mutual relations
I understand that there are many differences in relation - male/female, relatives, friends ...
and perception - friendship , obligations, behavior, etiquette, sex, respect ...
May be this is the most important ....
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... for joke - diff. in gifts reception.
As for me gift - it is only souvenir for memory. Let's all.
(We are not taking about corruption in business with “ gifts” priced thousand of USD )
But in VN gift is .... something other .
You take it as some kind of
obligations/admiration ... I can not explain it even in Russian
....
This is strange for me.
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The differences are not bad or good - they are part of our Identity.
In the time of globalization many people lost their identity and become “ average “ ....
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Person.
We live in several 'lifes' - Work - Hobby - Family
At Work we can not “ fly in the sky” , especially at the beginning of career.
It is a battle.
We must fight or be prepared to fight .
