Friday, November 17, 2006

Ginza (Japan)


This is Ginza Street in Japan. It's a fun place to hang out.
With many American jobs moving to other countries, younger generation is getting trained to understand American culture to be successful. They are willing to work hard and take risks. As they learn more to succeed, they may get influenced and slowly change in the way they think.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Online Magazine

I found an online magazine that discusses globalization and influence of America in other countries such as Korea, Brazil and Italy.

http://www.topics-mag.com/globalization/page-influence%20culture.htm

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Influence of America around the world

While I was thinking about subject for my first blog, I happened to turn on TV and tune into some Indian channels. We get Indian channels via satellite and I saw Fear Factor - India on one channel and Boogie Woogie (a realty dance competition show) on the other. For the past two years they have been showing ‘Indian Idol’ a hugely popular show in India, ‘Deal Ya No Deal’ (Deal or no deal) and ‘Business Baazigar’ (similar to NBC’s Apprentice). Few years back the Indian version of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ was a tremendous success in India. It’s amazing how Indians are influenced by Americans in the way they talk, dress, shop and eat and also what they watch on TV, including MTV. Indians now use American phrases, girls wear tank tops (not so common just a few years ago) and young people talk about going to McDonalds, Pizza Hut and night clubs.

I was walking in a mall in Gurgaon, New Delhi just couple of years ago and saw Dockers, L’Oreal and McDonald’s promoting their products. Today’s generation in metro cities want to live an independent life. In many cases these days both husband and wife work and want to have a small family. Things have changed dramatically in the past 10 years.

I started seeing this trend even 10 years ago when Indians starting celebrating Valentine’s Day. Now Mother’s day, Father’s day and Sweetest day are celebrated because Hallmark is there too. With increasing globalization of economy, the presence of multinationals is increasing world-wide. I believe increased communication, TV, Internet and job shift has revolutionized the world. Younger generation world-wide is becoming more mobile and is taking advantage of job opportunities that multinationals offer and slowly transforming culture around the world.

I visited China and Japan last year. It was enlightening to see different culture when I saw Forbidden City and Sensoji Shrine. Later, my friends asked me about what I ate there to survive. When I think back, I had coffee at Starbucks, lunch at McDonald’s and dinner at Hard Rock cafĂ©. I was enjoying an evening at ‘Ginza’ street and for one minute I forgot whether I was at Time Square in New York or in Tokyo, Japan. Here in the US many are concerned about Indian and Chinese products and services, while we under-estimate the influence of cultural revolution that US has brought on the world with it economic expansion. It seems like world is getting to be homogeneous as American influence is reaching everywhere. I would love to share stories and experiences through this blog so stay tuned and chime in your thoughts.

Other Interesting Links:
Starbucks Gossip Japan
Great Malls of China