Job Discussion Forums

[nihontone]

Cafebleu,

I'm interested as to how you refer to yourself? A gaikokujin. A foreigner. A European. A Brit. An Englander. A Londoner. A "your home here"-er. Don't those terms also label you as someone not from here? Even our own names label us as not from here. I can understand why people didlike being referred to an outsider because there are sometimes racist undertones. But personally, I don't really care what anybody calls me (and I've been called worse things than gaijin in my time). I like to refer to mysylf as a gaijin because I am. I think in time the term gaijin could become like *beep* for homosexuals or the N-word for African-Americans - a badge of honour which kind of irritates the original users. Anyhoo that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

CHEERS
NIHONTONE

[Celeste]

I have noticed great discomfort among my Japanese co-workers when I have referred to myself as gaijin. This leads me to believe that they find the term derogatory. I am one who embraces it with a bit of a sarcastic attitude. When I see people being discriminatory, I do not get too bent out of shape, but I do make a point of pointing it out with humour.

[vash3000]

I like to refer to mysylf as a gaijin because I am. I think in time the term gaijin could become like *beep* for homosexuals or the N-word for African-Americans - a badge of honour which kind of irritates the original users.

Ping Pong!

On a personal note, I do take a little delight in the occaisonal act of kindness/virtue that might seem uncustomary.

When told no Japanese would ever do that, I am happy to respond:

"But I`m not Japanese, I`m a gaijin."

It`s like your get out of jail free card to help the poor girl to her feet trampled by a salaryman, to address the topic of safe-sex in your classes, and to piss in the onsens.



Levity, folks, trying to bring some levity here...

Cheers!
V3K

[shmooj]

Vash, I like the card analogy. I often tell newbies here not to forget to play the "gaijin card".

One way street? Sorry, I'm a gaijin. Forgiven.
Can't park here? Sorry, I'm a gaijin. Forgiven.
Can't eat in public? Sorry, I'm a gaijin. Forgiven.
[insert faux pas here]? Sorry, I'm a gaijin. Forgiven.

I never leave home without it.

[PAULH]

[Celeste]

Oh boy! Vocabulary lessons on Dave's! Carefully writing new word into my Japanese notebook. Thanks Paul!

[vash3000]

Or dear, that was fun.

Everyone, if you haven`t tried it...you absolutely must try referring to yourself as a "kettou".

I`m not sure if it was the jaws dropping, the eyebrows raising in shock, or the flubbering...

"WheRe?!! WhEre?! YoU WoRd leaRn?"

That made my day.

Ah, better go. Kettou-Sensei has to teach class.

(This is all in good fun. I have yet to meet any hostility in Japan. It`s an amazing, and more than a little quirky, culture.)

Cheers!
V.

[TokyoLiz]

My favorite epithet, used reflexively, is banjin, which means barbarian. My Japanese friends laugh crazily when i refer to myself or other gaikokujin as banjin. Great word, that.

[shmooj]

Anyone ever approached a Japanese abroad and got chatting to then label them as gaijin. I can't wait personally. Hope I see some in Seoul!

[ntropy]

I love doing that.

I once took a JHS group of students to Canada for an exchange with a sister school I set up. This being Japan, it of course necessitated untold preparation classes.

I'll never forget the looks on some students faces after giving a talk about "gaijin" then telling them that they were the "gaijin" over there. Some of them simply couldn't understand the concept.

[ntropy]

... sitting beside a pool in Thailand listening to the Japanese tourists talk about the "gaijin" (including me) in Japanese. Waited an hour or so til I started talking in Japanese to them, subtly letting them know I understood every word they had been saying. Extreme embarrassment.


... watching a Noh play outside at night on blankets next to the river. The people beside us started talking about "gaijin" when they saw us. The conversation turned to their next door neighbors, who happened to be my Japanese wife's parents. They started talking about my wife and me without knowing I was sitting there listening. Full of terrible, racist comments about me and equally horrific comments about my wife's character.


I waited til the play was over and then, in very polite Japanese, wished them a nice journey back to the specific small town they were from, even mentioning local sites I'd only know if I were from there. They almost died from embarrassment.

... sitting eating supper with my wife's parents while they comment about the absurdity of "gaijin" and their customs, while they forget I'm one and sitting right there.

[voodoochild]

Essence of Japan?.. you mean when you go into a video shop and see all the rapist sado masochistic dodgy Japanese porn on full dispaly on the shelves and then on the other hand hearing how Gajin are responsible for the decline in morals , bad influence, crime etc etc...

hmmmm

[Gordon]

No addresses and few street names. They inherited this from the Koreans.
That's one way they got them back.

[Laura C]

Shmooj,

I have read many things on dave's which have amused my wee brain, but your post of the mournful Japanese woman saying 'We pay money, then we die' had me fighting not to spit my tea all over the computer, and I laughed so much that I freaked the dog out (not a new occurence for me, though!) I'm actually going to write that one into my diary as it will make me smile every time I read it.

ntropy -- experiences like yours are one of the reasons I am determined to learn Japanese!

And I can't wait to use the word 'kettou'...

L

[Lynn]

Hey Paul,
I was just wondering... what is the kanji for kettou?