2026 Annika’s Blog

Before this academic semester, I lived with my parents and siblings in Brunei. Since Brunei has a strong family-oriented culture, relatives often visited our home during gatherings and celebrations, while my friends also came over for dinners, catch-up sessions, and board games. Sometimes neighbours would also casually drop by, especially during festive seasons such as Chinese New Year, to give gifts, snacks, or food as a way of strengthening community relationships and showing kindness. Personally, I enjoy spending time with people both at home and in public places because each environment has different advantages. Spending time at home feels more private and comfortable, while cafés and restaurants are more convenient. From my experience, the culture of inviting guests in Brunei and Japan shares many similarities, especially in the importance of respect, hospitality, and building relationships. In both cultures, hosts try to make guests feel welcomed and comfortable. Bringing sma...

Cultural awareness involves recognizing one's own cultural influences while also understanding the values, beliefs, and practices of others. It goes beyond simple recognition, requiring individuals to actively appreciate and engage with different cultures in a respectful and informed way. This awareness is important in reducing stereotypes, biases and misunderstandings that may arise from cultural differences (Oxford Review, n.d.). Closely related to this is the concept of cultural perspective, which explains how an individual’s background, environment and social influences shape their worldview, beliefs and actions. Reflecting on this week's lesson, the idea of high-trust and low-trust societies stood out to me. In the video featuring Michael Moore, Canada is shown as a high-trust society where people feel safe leaving their doors unlocked. In contrast, in Brunei, although the country is generally peaceful, most people still lock their doors, especially at night, du...

Sleep is essential for maintaining both physical health and mental performance, yet in modern society it is often treated as a luxury rather than a necessity. Personally, I usually sleep around 7 hours per night. While this seems sufficient, factors such as academic pressure, noise, social media, and overthinking can reduce the quality of my sleep. This highlights how modern lifestyles affect not only how long we sleep, but also how well we rest. In Japan, sleep patterns are strongly influenced by demanding work culture. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Japanese people average about 7 hours and 22 minutes of sleep , one of the lowest among developed countries (as cited in Mainichi Shimbun, 2025). Long working hours and overtime often lead to sleep deprivation. Documentary evidence further suggests that some workers sleep significantly less, sometimes only a few hours per night, due to these demanding schedules (Free High-Quality Documen...

This week's class helped me reflect on how my "self" is shaped by culture, especially when meeting others for the first time. Using the Cultural Iceberg Model by Edward T. Hall (1976), I realized that self-introductions reflect not only surface elements like name, hometown, or hobbies, but also deeper cultural values such as modesty and respect. In Bruneian culture, I usually introduce myself by sharing my name, where I'm from, my studies or work, my hobbies and my connection to the group.  From my discussion with a Japanese student, I learned that greetings in Japan reflect deeper cultural values. For example, Japanese people tend to bow instead of hugging, especially between males and females, and they maintain a comfortable distance when speaking. This shows respect and awareness of personal space. Similarly, in Bruneian culture, people also value politeness and respect when interacting with others. While a certain level of personal space is maintained, especially ...

 Hello, World! Yours truly, Annika