There are people who work at night and sleep during the day, mostly because of the jobs they have, but the majority of people wake up some time in the morning, carry out their appointed tasks during the day, and relax at night before going to sleep at night. The specifics of our days may vary, but for the most part we move around during the daylight hours and sleep when it is dark
I wake up early in the morning, at about 5:00. I never snooze. Then I go out and volunteer, walking some dogs at a local animal shelter. I have breakfast at around 7:00. I wash my face and shave from around 7:30. It takes me 15 minutes to do that.
I leave for work at 8:15 and arrive at 8:45. My work day varies from day to day, but I usually have time to eat lunch at about 2:30. My work is finished at 5:00 on average.
I get home at around 6:00. If I walk home it takes a little longer. I eat dinner with my family from 7:00. I help my children with their studies or we watch TV. I bathe and get ready for bed by 10:00.
All of this is cultural. Some people get up earlier or later and tend to have different ideas about what is normal. The IKEA company published some research in 2014 on how people in some big cities organize their mornings.
The research found that in Berlin, Germany, most people rise after 6:30 on weekdays. 42% of the people asked said that they were "evening people," meaning that they preferred to be active in the evening rather than in the morning. 52% said that they push the snooze button one time, and 36% said they push it more than one time.
57% of Berliners say that they bathe or shower in the morning. They take about 14 minutes for that. When they are finished with their grooming, only 1/10 feel anxious about their looks. (Compared to 20% in Moscow.)
1/4 of the people take time for reflection in the morning. That takes several shapes. Some people reflect during their grooming time, or listen to quiet music in the morning. Finally, 57% of people in Berlin say they eat breakfast.
Let's compare Berlin to London, another big, European city. Londoners wake up at 7:00 on average, about 30 minutes later than people in Berlin. That might be why London is such a creative city. It has been found that waking later in the morning is correlated to more creativity. London has been raked #7 in the world for being a creative city. 50% of the people claim to be "evening people." Most people spend 5 minutes choosing the clothes that they will wear that day, and 14 minutes in grooming. Yet 12% say that they are "anxious" about their appearance. 68% of the people say that they take some time for reflection during the morning.
Londoners show more interest in "the most important meal of the day," or breakfast. 8/10 of people want to eat breakfast prepared at home, with 60% actually having it. The other 2/10 eat breakfast out.
People in other countries have quite different morning routines. According to IKEA's data, people everywhere who live with children say that they want to play with their children. 7 in 10 people who live in Moscow say that play in the morning is important. The truth is that only 1 in 10 people actually do play with their children. 88% of Muscovites say that it is important to have conversation with their children in the morning, but only half of them do have discussions then.
People's work days in Mumbai start much later than most places. The survey showed that most people start their work day there at 11:00. They get a stress-free start to their work day. 90% of Mumbaikars say that breakfast is an important part of their days, more than all of the other cities surveyed. They don't spend much time eating it, but they usually do it with others who live with them. Parents who live with children under 12 years old say that they play with them on 1/3 of mornings.
New York City has always had a reputation for being a fashionable town. The Global Language Monitor says that New York is the most fashionable city in the world. How do New Yorkers carry this off? First, they spend more time at it than in other places. On average they spend 16 minutes on their grooming, two minutes more than other countries. Women take 19 minutes. Women also shave more often than in other countries.
As a result of this preparation, only about 16% of them say that their looks are a stressful part of the morning. Stress levels vary based on their confidence and grooming times. Another result is that 13% claim that mornings is when they look their best during the whole day.
Mornings are an interesting time of the day to observe, because, depending on the place, people approach that time of the day differently. We didn't even discuss mornings in relation to our previous topic, likes and dislikes. I like mornings. To me it's the best part of the day. To me, "Good morning," really is good.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Why Do We Like (or Dislike) Things?
People's likes and dislikes are pretty interesting. What do you like? What do you dislike? That's pretty easy to answer. Certain items might not be that easy to answer for, but when we talk about why we like or dislike something, that is where it gets interesting.
I get asked about food that I like or dislike a lot. When I first came to Japan, I was asked if I like sushi, natto, or sake. I'm still asked those questions regularly. There is some entertainment value in the questions. For example, "Do you like bitter gourd"? Some people like it, like me. Some people don't. There is some excitement attached to those kinds of questions. I think it is linked to the asker's likes or dislikes.
If the asker likes bitter gourd, and I answer, "Yes," then there is something to talk about. If I answer, "No," then there is something to talk about, too, but it's very different. That is a fun way to have a conversation.
Preferences might not be as strong as likes and dislikes, but they are powerful forces on our behaviors. I prefer coffee to tea. I prefer green tea to black tea. I prefer dogs to cats. I enjoy all of those things from time to time. I certainly enjoy cats, but if I had the choice of which one I'd rather live with, I'd choose a dog. Likewise, if offered tea or coffee, I'd choose coffee, but I drink both.
But why do we have those likes, dislikes, or preferences? Are likes and preferences cultural? Biological? Both? It seems that they are a little of both. Babies prefer sweet tastes, and often reject bitter flavors. There is a gene that affects how people taste bitterness. When that gene changes, there will be a change in how children and adults taste bitterness. This also affects how sweetness is tasted in children. This gene stops affecting how adults taste sweetness, though in this case, genes do affect the way people taste foods and drinks.
That may be why adults develop a taste for coffee or beer as they grow older. Of course some people never develop a taste for coffee or beer. Those genes can be tricky, can't they!
People also have cultural preferences for food. In an experiment done in Spain, researchers found that people choose food that symbolically links them with their own culture. They said that it is because the food gives the person a sense of belonging.
This is not only about food choices, though. Food is just one example. There is a lot of information on food preferences. There is even more information on why a person prefers one kind of person over another as a mate.
Some universal preferences are based on where we live. One study showed that people who live in bigger cities preferred manly men and more feminine women. It may also have something to do with the harshness of the environment where they live.
Likes and dislikes are partially determined by genetics, but also by culture. It seems that preferences in mates is similar. Answering what we like or dislike might be easy, but answering why we like it might be more complicated.
I get asked about food that I like or dislike a lot. When I first came to Japan, I was asked if I like sushi, natto, or sake. I'm still asked those questions regularly. There is some entertainment value in the questions. For example, "Do you like bitter gourd"? Some people like it, like me. Some people don't. There is some excitement attached to those kinds of questions. I think it is linked to the asker's likes or dislikes.
If the asker likes bitter gourd, and I answer, "Yes," then there is something to talk about. If I answer, "No," then there is something to talk about, too, but it's very different. That is a fun way to have a conversation.
Preferences might not be as strong as likes and dislikes, but they are powerful forces on our behaviors. I prefer coffee to tea. I prefer green tea to black tea. I prefer dogs to cats. I enjoy all of those things from time to time. I certainly enjoy cats, but if I had the choice of which one I'd rather live with, I'd choose a dog. Likewise, if offered tea or coffee, I'd choose coffee, but I drink both.
But why do we have those likes, dislikes, or preferences? Are likes and preferences cultural? Biological? Both? It seems that they are a little of both. Babies prefer sweet tastes, and often reject bitter flavors. There is a gene that affects how people taste bitterness. When that gene changes, there will be a change in how children and adults taste bitterness. This also affects how sweetness is tasted in children. This gene stops affecting how adults taste sweetness, though in this case, genes do affect the way people taste foods and drinks.
That may be why adults develop a taste for coffee or beer as they grow older. Of course some people never develop a taste for coffee or beer. Those genes can be tricky, can't they!
People also have cultural preferences for food. In an experiment done in Spain, researchers found that people choose food that symbolically links them with their own culture. They said that it is because the food gives the person a sense of belonging.
This is not only about food choices, though. Food is just one example. There is a lot of information on food preferences. There is even more information on why a person prefers one kind of person over another as a mate.
Some universal preferences are based on where we live. One study showed that people who live in bigger cities preferred manly men and more feminine women. It may also have something to do with the harshness of the environment where they live.
Likes and dislikes are partially determined by genetics, but also by culture. It seems that preferences in mates is similar. Answering what we like or dislike might be easy, but answering why we like it might be more complicated.
Sunday, December 1, 2019
People Will Be Interested In Your Name
Understanding who others are and telling them about who you are important tasks when learning your language. But the basics are not that hard. After I had lived in Japan for a short while, I was thinking about making cards with answers to the most frequently asked Japanese questions. Those weren’t even fun to answer any more, because they were always the same questions and the same answers.
The questions people asked me in Japanese included, “Where are you from”? “How long have you lived in Japan”? “How old are you”? There was a list of others that people asked depending on the asker and the setting we were in, but those were the main ones.
Who are you, and what do you think people from other cultures will ask you? One friend who studied in America said she was often asked a variety of questions similar to the kinds I was asked. For example, “Is Japanese difficult”? “Are there a lot of earthquakes”? “How many hours a day do Japanese people work”?
Since people often start by telling each other their names, let’s start there, too. People who are not familiar with the sound of Japanese names will probably not understand yours the first time you tell them. Though your name and Japanese names in general may be normal to you, they are not familiar to many other people. They may have to ask you to repeat yours several times.
One way you can make it easier for them is to shorten your name. For example, if your name is Yukiko, ask them to please call you Yuki for short.
Westerners are curious about kanji, or Chinese characters. They might want to know how you write your name in kanji. They will be interested to see you write your name on a piece of paper.
They will also be interested in how you would write their names. You will have to explain how kanji work. They don’t understand that one character has several different pronunciations. Just try your best, and try to write a kanji even just for a shortened version of their name. For example, if their first name is Amy, try 笑美, and explain that it means beautiful smile. If their name is too difficult to figure out, write it in katakana or hiragana for them.
People you meet will likely ask about the order of your name. Which comes first, your family name, or your given name? Family names will be a curiosity for them, too. They may ask what yours means, if you got it from your father’s side of the family, and if it is a common name in Japan.
Names are fascinating. Yours is, too. People will be curious about yours and what it means to you.
The questions people asked me in Japanese included, “Where are you from”? “How long have you lived in Japan”? “How old are you”? There was a list of others that people asked depending on the asker and the setting we were in, but those were the main ones.
Who are you, and what do you think people from other cultures will ask you? One friend who studied in America said she was often asked a variety of questions similar to the kinds I was asked. For example, “Is Japanese difficult”? “Are there a lot of earthquakes”? “How many hours a day do Japanese people work”?
Since people often start by telling each other their names, let’s start there, too. People who are not familiar with the sound of Japanese names will probably not understand yours the first time you tell them. Though your name and Japanese names in general may be normal to you, they are not familiar to many other people. They may have to ask you to repeat yours several times.
One way you can make it easier for them is to shorten your name. For example, if your name is Yukiko, ask them to please call you Yuki for short.
Westerners are curious about kanji, or Chinese characters. They might want to know how you write your name in kanji. They will be interested to see you write your name on a piece of paper.
They will also be interested in how you would write their names. You will have to explain how kanji work. They don’t understand that one character has several different pronunciations. Just try your best, and try to write a kanji even just for a shortened version of their name. For example, if their first name is Amy, try 笑美, and explain that it means beautiful smile. If their name is too difficult to figure out, write it in katakana or hiragana for them.
People you meet will likely ask about the order of your name. Which comes first, your family name, or your given name? Family names will be a curiosity for them, too. They may ask what yours means, if you got it from your father’s side of the family, and if it is a common name in Japan.
Names are fascinating. Yours is, too. People will be curious about yours and what it means to you.
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