Forums > Social Chat > Cultural Differences and Bottoms
Login/Join to ParticipateInsert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
Today I learnt 2 things;
that the Hokey Pokey is very difficult to do while holding a microphone and that putting your bottom in and shaking it all about isn't as universally funny as I thought it was.
To to those who don't know, the Hokey Pokey is a dance you do with kids that follows putting body parts "in" and "out" of a circle, and "shaking them all about".
Now when you do this in Australia, when it comes the the part where you put your "bottom" in, without fail, they roll on the floor laughing and you are lucky if you can get them to stop laughing within the next 10 minutes.
As a teacher in Romania, I played this with my students, and they also rolled on the floor in fits of laughter at shaking their bottoms all about. These students barely spoke a word of English therefore I know that there was no need for language to interpret "bottom" to make this funny.
Now today.
I played the game with 60 Japanese kids ranging from 5 to 10 (the same age group that I did it with in Romania). And not one of them laughed. Not one of them made a reaction any differently to shaking their arms or legs or head all about. And as I said above, I believe that an understanding of spoken language is not essential in making this activity funny.
And I am most perplexed! Is it a cultural difference between Japan (perhaps Asia as a whole) and Australia/Europe (do I assume America as well?) in finding certain body parts funny? Is it just not amusing to waggle your rear end if you are a Japanese child? In general I found their excitement for this song/dance to be very low when I am used to kids getting fully into it (sometimes I've had to stop kids because I was worried they'd hurt themselves they were shaking their heads about so violently).
Can anyone shed any light on this for me, please
i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,895 posts
Location: Cambridge UK
I don't know: I think in China they'd be laughing, but they're very different to the Japanese: If you want to find out what body parts are funny I suggest playing 'simon says'
Have you tried tongues? ( in the sticking out sense of course, not sticking in... oh, I'll just shut up now
) Because ActiveAngel sounds like a feminine deodorant
Like sex, I'm much more interesting in real life than online.
'Be the change you want to see in the world around you' - Ghandi
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
Chinese girls look out for lazy angel! 
I flare my nostrils at my host sister and she absolutely loses it!
wish i'd thought of Simon Says before today! bugger! I'm not sure when I'll next get to play with kids (other than my host sisters but you can't really play a game of Simon Says with only two - winner is too easily decided! especially when their English ability clearly favours the 9 year old over the 5 year old!
) i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,895 posts
Location: Cambridge UK
if you need more ideas for games pm me: I've got loads!
also take a look at https://genkienglish.net/start.htm
and for the record, I have an English girlfriend to whom I'm extremely loyal!
Because ActiveAngel sounds like a feminine deodorant
Like sex, I'm much more interesting in real life than online.
'Be the change you want to see in the world around you' - Ghandi
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
Oooh! back in England??? Does that mean I have a fellow ex-pat (ok, so im not an ex-pat this year,but i was last year) i can bitch and whinge and complain to about missing other halfs back home?
cheers for the kids games, but i'm not here teaching (I miss teaching
) i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,895 posts
Location: Cambridge UK
yep I'll PM you my MSN
not teaching? well if you need some games whatever, let me know! Although most of mine are english centred
Because ActiveAngel sounds like a feminine deodorant
Like sex, I'm much more interesting in real life than online.
'Be the change you want to see in the world around you' - Ghandi
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
nope, i'm studying my little "bottom" (*gigglegigglegiggle*) off studying 2 semesters worth of japanese in 2 months!
i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,895 posts
Location: Cambridge UK
wow! Because ActiveAngel sounds like a feminine deodorant
Like sex, I'm much more interesting in real life than online.
'Be the change you want to see in the world around you' - Ghandi
4,728 posts
Location: The wrong place
Ya know...I can't say as I remember ever seeing many Japanese folks doing a rump-shake so, maybe they just don't get the concept?
And...What if the Hokey-Pokey IS what it's all about?
"Absence is to love what wind is to fire...it extinguishes the small, enkindles the great."
--Comte Debussy-Rebutin
Momma Bear
4,525 posts
Location: Telford, Shrops, United Kingdom
Rouge, maybe the japanese kids are just killjoys?
Hoppers are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
there's no charge for awesomeness... or attractiveness
3,764 posts
Location: limbo, Australia
*shakes head*
u should`ve done it in a panda suit...
--pogo (pat) [forever and always]
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
that's China, not Japan, Pogo!! Maybe a "Hello Kitty" outfit with a wiggling cat tail would've worked?
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
there's no charge for awesomeness... or attractiveness
3,764 posts
Location: limbo, Australia
nope... I know which country we`re talking about... and I *definitely* meant a panda suit... *nods* yup yup... panda suit...
--pogo (pat) [forever and always]
newbie
7 posts
Location: staffs, United Kingdom
i can honestly say i don't remember putting bottoms in when playing the hokey cokey (as i've always known it as)... sure it's not just you?
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
Ah! But if you had shaked your bottoms all about, would you have laughed?
Birgit, Pogo is making Jackass references
i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
ah, sorry... me and my lack of knowledge of popular culture, eh?
Am kind of fixed on Hello Kitty at the moment, though, a friend's comment has got me thinking about starting my own product line, "Cute Fury". Possibly with a gothy/emo dressed Hello Kitty, alternatively with an evil fluffy bunnyrabbit.
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
oh i only know its a jackass reference cos he had told me previously!
i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
hehe, 'Member' huhuh
6,120 posts
Location: Behind you. With Jam
That is Wrong-cubed
Yet oddly fetching...
"I used to want to change the world, now I just wanna leave the room with a little dignity..." - Lotus Weinstock
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
1) I'm going to have nightmares for weeks.
2) Some people need to be put down.
i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
Oh dear. Though not quite as bad as that picture of the Hoff naked (except for that puppy sitting where a puppy shouldn't sit) that almost made me delete Jo on myspace! I wanted to click "delete" as a reflex, and just realised in time that it said "delete friend"...Still. Ridiculing Lord Vader?!? Jon, if Rougie puts you down, can I have your drum?
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
Carpal \'Tunnel
2,895 posts
Location: Cambridge UK
it takes a special kind of geek to put so much effort into putting two cultural icons into one horribly mishapen bag Because ActiveAngel sounds like a feminine deodorant
Like sex, I'm much more interesting in real life than online.
'Be the change you want to see in the world around you' - Ghandi
Momma Bear
4,525 posts
Location: Telford, Shrops, United Kingdom
Birgit! how could the hoff make you want to delete me?! 
Hoppers are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
Written by: 87wt2gxq7
Rougie wouldn't put me down. Not her ever-faithful poiratical admirer.
ah well. In that case, I'll have to resort to my toxicologist skills (or just let you live and get my own djembe at some point).
Oh, did you get to read my cosmo conspiracy?
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
I think i'm just going to see how this eventuates
i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
Coursework? Boo
I should be looking at my gene lists, but I'm confused. It's getting too mathematical for my little brain how what eventuates?
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
toxicology vs my piratical admirer
i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
it would be fun. Thanks to a very helpful German newspaper, I know where to get Polonium from completely legally. Though the use of it would still be illegal, and I suppose announcing on a board that I'm a toxicologist and know where to get Polonium from wouldn't help.
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia
interpol are watching you no i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey
Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...
hehe, 'Member' huhuh
6,120 posts
Location: Behind you. With Jam
For all their efforts on maintaining a dignified manner and saving face, the Chinese do have a predeliction for d**k & fart jokes.
My mother was the type of woman who wouldn't think twice about farting in my face when I was young...
(hmmm, best not leave my mouth open) "I used to want to change the world, now I just wanna leave the room with a little dignity..." - Lotus Weinstock
there's no charge for awesomeness... or attractiveness
3,764 posts
Location: limbo, Australia
Written by: Neon_Shaolin
My mother was the type of woman who wouldn`t think twice about farting in my face when I was young...
now, that`s class... you can`t teach that...
--pogo (pat) [forever and always]
4,728 posts
Location: The wrong place
My mother would have smacked you cross-eyed for doing something like that!!!
Altho, my dad will run you cross-eyed with his and not even bat an eyelash himself...or acknowledge that anything is wrong!!!
"Absence is to love what wind is to fire...it extinguishes the small, enkindles the great."
--Comte Debussy-Rebutin
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