(Spotlight shining)
Mr. Interviewer: Hey, Welcome to Slowly Stories! I’m the host Mr. Interviewer. Before we start, could you introduce yourself?
M: Okay. Hi,Slowly friends! I am 喵嘰喵嘰 from China. Nice to meet you!
IR: Hello everyone! I’m InnerReality from India. Nice to meet you!
Mr. Interviewer: So how did you guys get to know each other?
M: It’s me,I sent the first letter.
IR: One fine day, when I was about to sleep, I received this letter with a Chinese username. When I opened that, it was just a short complaint about her Japanese thesis? I was laughing like crazy.
Mr. Interviewer: Oh really! Interesting…Now, Miss M, what were your intentions when you sent that and how you felt when he replied?
M: You know,I sent it just to say to someone, but I didn’t expect a Indian to reply to me, and he even replied to me in Japanese.Awesome!The thing he did not know was that I am interested in India.
IR: Yes, that was really shocking to me. A Japanese-speaking Chinese who is interested in Indian things! It’s such a rare combination! I finally felt so lucky…
M: You are a Hindi and Telugu speaking Indian who can also speak Japanese! Not only that, a bit Chinese too! I wanna ask so many questions but, on the other hand, I am worried that will be troublesome to him. So I asked him indirect questions the first few times, hoping to get answers.
IR: Well, I didn’t realize before. I thought you were busy but regular in writing replies because they were short. Still, short or long, it’s hard for me to guess what you wanted to actually ask…But one thing was sure, I think I was expecting some things that are not casual talk, more intense questions in future. And I was ready to patiently explain anything you ask.
M: That’s why!!! You are always patient with me, and you told me lots of things I never knew before!!Sometimes people insist on their prejudice and stereotypes though,I am grateful for all the things you told me.
IR: I’m really glad to talk to you. I also loved that you genuinely asked about things that you wanted to know. I would never want to lose such a friend who also cares about my thoughts and opinions.
Mr. Interviewer: Ohh you seem to be considerate of each other. I’m curious, you must have many other friends on Slowly, given your considerate nature. Can you tell me more about that?
M: Well,I had some, yes, they are decent people too, some are very friendly to tell me things I don’t know. You know, I really wanna know about food, XD, like my favorite food is Vietnamese food, they have tasty Bún…blabla…but sometimes friends are turbulent like water, always changing.
IR: Yeah, when the time goes by, you can see some fissures too, like someone saying something makes me uncomfortable, upset…
Mr. Interviewer: Of course, no one can have everything as they wish.
M: At least, I realized friends in the internet unlike your regular friends, they can be leave suddenly without a word,I had to say, sometime I will remember them in my brain as the shadow of a bird flying over a lake; existing, but transient.So I always cherish my friends~
IR: I totally agree with her. I’ve had such experiences in the past too. But thanks to the Slowly team, we are able to stay connected for a long time now.
Mr. Interviewer: Thanks for sharing your experiences. People will tend to be friends with similar people. Do you guys have something in common?
(Few seconds of silence…)
M: Oh, that is a good question…Do we? (Turn to see IR)
IR: I guess, our opinions on Japan and the Japanese are similar. Like we both hate to learn Keigo (polite Japanese), it’s troublesome. And we both like traditional Japanese arts. Apart from Japanese, I think we are always curious to learn about and try each other’s interests and tastes and sometimes discuss them. Ahh, remember Aamir khan?
M: Ahh, I forgot,yes,he is a bollywood super star,I had watched almost…wait….and Indian movies!Though we have different tastes in that.
Mr. Interviewer: Great! Finally you managed to find out common things in both of you. Being from different cultures, what is your experience in dealing with cross cultural issues?
M: First of all, respectfully, if I really wanna know more about some cultural highlights I am curious about,I will ask someone from there, or searched in the internet.Yes(Both of them look toward each other with smiles)
IR: It was fun doing that, although we had our share of embarrassing moments. To be honest, I had never experienced such embarrassing yet funny moments.
M: I hope you mean in a good way, like you are lucky to have such a rare experience.
(Dramatic music)
“You are lucky, you can be my favorite pen pal“
“In my case, You already are my favourite”
„Thanks, you were slowly as SLOWLY”
(A high pitched laugher)
“Your laughter sounds like my grandma and goats together sing a duet.”
(Mr. Interviewer interrupts)
“Okay guys, thanks for watching Slowly Stories, see you next week, Mr. Interviewer signing off”
(Cheerful ending theme)