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mspxlation
Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 44 Location: USA
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Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:52 am Post subject: |
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matador wrote: |
Hmmm. annoying? Not really just kind of...er...I don't know what the word is.
1. Having gone into my 7/11 for 2 years and the staff still don`t offer any sign of recognizing me, they just follow their robotic customer service.
2. My neighbor (hmm, similarities to no. 1) just shuffles past me everyday even though we have lived next to each other for ...2 years!
...heaven forbid there should be any kind of spontaneous unscripted communication! Arrrrrrgh!! |
Perhaps you were unaware that in Japanese culture, it's the new person who is supposed to introduce himself instead of the already settled people sending out the welcome wagon. |
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gonzarelli

Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 151 Location: trouble in the henhouse
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Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 4:16 am Post subject: |
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gaijin4life wrote: |
gonzarelli wrote: |
It baffles me how many times I've been asked "How long have you been in Japan?"  |
I guess Ive got used to it as its a pretty 'safe' question people can ask. However the 'why did you come to Japan?' is starting to grate a little.
At a recent fairly drunken night out with some other foreigners, we came up with some great replies ! - I'm looking forward to the next person who asks me why I came to Japan  |
Why did you come to Japan?  |
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flyer
Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 539 Location: Sapporo Japan
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Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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I can't stand seeing all these cars and trucks idling needlessly outside shops etc .... wasting fuel and polluting the air not to mention the noise
... esp in this day and age of ECO |
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Sweetsee

Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything
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Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:03 am Post subject: |
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Ditto that, Flyer. How about all the drivers regularly sleeping in their idling vehicles? I pass by the same ones every day on my way to the office in Shinjuku, who knows how many folks are doing that. The best one is the surfers leaving their rides running when they go in the water. |
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Yawarakaijin
Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 504 Location: Middle of Nagano
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Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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gonzarelli wrote: |
Yawarakaijin wrote: |
The gist of my post was...Isn't it funny that, in this day in age, an advanced, educated society can still be in the dark when it comes to seatbelt safety or other simple things that other societies have figured out a long time ago?
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I believe the point of the program you watched was to demonstrate the need for seatbelts while driving at low speeds such as 10k/hr. I'm sure a lot of people in your highly advanced, educated home country are equally unaware of the dangers of driving even at this low of speed without seatbelts.
If you're going to bash Japan and stereotype an entire nation then do it right. Your attempt is lame. |
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/421240
Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 13:06 EST
TOKYO � The ratio of back seat passengers wearing seat belts remains low despite the government plan to introduce the revised Road Traffic Law that makes it mandatory for them to fasten their seat belts, according to a recent survey. The survey conducted by the National Police Agency and the Japan Automobile Federation showed the usage rate of the seat belt in back seats stood at 8.8% on general roads and 13.5% on expressways.
The two organizations jointly conducted the survey from Oct 1 to 16 at 780 points on general roads and 105 sites on expressways nationwide, covering about 500,000 people. While the prospective law has no punitive provisions, the government plans to impose 1 point on its point penalty system for offenders on expressways.
Lame attempt at Japan bashing indeed. |
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ghostrider
Joined: 30 May 2006 Posts: 147
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 8:28 am Post subject: |
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southofreality wrote: |
jademonkey wrote: |
Yes, Japanese TV is often pretty moronic, but it's positively Mensa compared to most of what you get from the US. |
I'd say both have their fair share of moronic TV, but come on...
I mean Japan is the country that has made people like HG (Razor Ramon), Ikko, and Opappi (spelling?) famous. |
I am so sick of "dondake" and that stupid opapi dance guy. It's as if all of America were saying "get er done", and that Cable Guy were on every show imaginable, making guest appearances everywhere, just saying "GET ER DONE!!" OK, America is almost as bad, but I think it's hard to be any worse than Japan with those idiotic catch phrase fads. |
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wabisabi365

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 111 Location: japan
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 9:31 am Post subject: |
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The whole time I've lived here, I've never owned a tv. The references that you make regarding the characters on the shows are meaningless... which leads me to believe that where Japanese television is concerned, ignorance is bliss. I highly recommend it. |
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gonzarelli

Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 151 Location: trouble in the henhouse
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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ghostrider wrote: |
I am so sick of "dondake" and that stupid opapi dance guy. It's as if all of America were saying "get er done", and that Cable Guy were on every show imaginable, making guest appearances everywhere, just saying "GET ER DONE!!" OK, America is almost as bad, but I think it's hard to be any worse than Japan with those idiotic catch phrase fads. |
Agreed. The catch phrases from TV got really annoying. The kids at school just wouldn't stop with them sometimes. It was especially bad when I would hear fellow expats using the catch phrases just to be "cool."  |
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nawlinsgurl

Joined: 01 May 2004 Posts: 363 Location: Kanagawa and feeling Ok....
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe I can add to this. I own a tv now and have come to realize that Japanese tv is way too idiotic! I think my kids are doing the same "dondake" thing at school...is it a dance or something that ends in "papy"??!!! I dunno but whatever it is, it is way annoying--even when 3 yr. olds do it.
I did however see "Hard Gay" once and thought he was way funny. Something about the leather outfit and the "whoo-hoo!" thing got me.
I mostly watch a few shows on the internet like "Heroes", from the states.
As for things that baffle me? I'm kinda getting tired of people asking if I can eat sushi. As though it is physically hard to do...
And the whole fakeness is getting to me as well. Like if you don't want to do something, you are supposed to smile, do it, and pretend its the most fun you've ever had???!!!
That's just wack to me.  |
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southofreality
Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 579 Location: Tokyo
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Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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nawlinsgurl wrote: |
And the whole fakeness is getting to me as well. Like if you don't want to do something, you are supposed to smile, do it, and pretend its the most fun you've ever had???!!!
That's just wack to me.  |
I stopped doing it within a year after I got here. I actually made Japanese friends a lot easier once I stopped 'trying' to be Japanese. Of course, very few of my Japanese friends speak English, so I have to speak Japanese with them. Brutal honesty expressed using Japanese is apparently very amusing to most of my friends. |
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nawlinsgurl

Joined: 01 May 2004 Posts: 363 Location: Kanagawa and feeling Ok....
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 11:47 am Post subject: |
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Yeah I feel you on that. But sometimes ppl can't handle my honesty. Like I really am not interested in going to something but they keep asking me again and again...How many times do you really have to politely decline before ppl get the idea??!!!
Anyways whatI really don't get is ppl who are friends but not friends. (If that makes sense) like either want a gaijin friend or an English lesson or to look cool by hanging out with you? I don't really get those ppl.  |
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Brooks
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:39 am Post subject: |
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Kanto people can't deal with honesty.
People in Kansai though, they can. Osaka people are more direct than two-faced Tokyo people. |
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azarashi sushi

Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Posts: 562 Location: Shinjuku
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:49 am Post subject: |
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Quote: |
I did however see "Hard Gay" once and thought he was way funny. Something about the leather outfit and the "whoo-hoo!" thing got me.
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The only problem is, he's a bit of a "one-trick pony". That's his only joke. It gets old really quickly. |
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nawlinsgurl

Joined: 01 May 2004 Posts: 363 Location: Kanagawa and feeling Ok....
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:06 am Post subject: |
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azarashi sushi wrote: |
Quote: |
I did however see "Hard Gay" once and thought he was way funny. Something about the leather outfit and the "whoo-hoo!" thing got me.
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The only problem is, he's a bit of a "one-trick pony". That's his only joke. It gets old really quickly. |
No wonder I don't see him anywhere nowadays...he is played out now...
Brooks wrote: |
Kanto people can't deal with honesty.
People in Kansai though, they can. Osaka people are more direct than two-faced Tokyo people. |
I need to move to Osaka then...  |
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Brooks
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:15 am Post subject: |
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the problem is that it is harder to get work there.
I will be leaving the Tokyo area by 2009 and hope to get work in Kansai, or western Japan. |
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