|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
|
 Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:23 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| kdynamic wrote: |
| I don't know what you tell yourself, but no matter what you do, no matter how good your Japanese is, no matter how perfectly you follow japanese rules and customs, no matter how long you are here, most Japanese people will always see you as a freak. You may not like it, but 's true. |
Whatever...freak!
I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
YouHadMeAtASL
Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 60
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
zorro (3)
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 202
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I thought we were Gaijin not freaks. If we had a hunchback, some devil horns, 4 metal spikes poking from our heads and juggled balls for a travelling circus for a living, then we might be freaks. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Hmm, I hear you kdynamic, I agree with you somewhat, hence why my wife finds me to be a strain because I don't toe the Japanese line and don't often make an effort to do so.
I often tell my students that 'weird' means 'different' (and yes, it is one of the defintions). 'Freak' has certain connotations among counter cultural subcultures, ie.e surfers, etc.., but the defintion you are trying to paint is not a very mainstream one.
| Quote: |
| Being a freak can have its advantages. Freaks are exotic. Freaks are interesting. |
A better word in this case might be 'eccentric' as it doesn't have as much of the negative baggage tied to it as 'freak' does. Then again, maybe
you' re just a super freak  !
| Quote: |
| So things like piercings are judged differently than back home, and differently than if they were on a Japanese person. |
We all got that part earlier, but I'm not sure if pushing that standard in that direction is ncessarily the best thing. It like when David Spector comes on and makes these cultural comparisons which I find are bizare, and I realize he probably has lost touch with what's going on in the US by ingratiating himself so deep here.
As to being 'weird', haven't you noticed my posting name? And I just tell people that as long as I live in Japan, it will remain true. No wonder the Japanophiles on another forum don't like it! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dove
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Posts: 271
Location: USA/Japan
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
This is an interesting debate about the word freak and if, as kydynamic believes, that all Japanese see us foreigners as freaks. I wonder if Chinese people view all Westerners as freaks. Do Koreans view us as freaks? If I go to Peru will I be viewed as a freak? Turning the tables, would my grandfather who hasn't left his hometown in over 50 years view, say, a Japanese tourist as a freak? Or is it just the Japanese--all 160 million of them--who are sensitive to such a degree that anyone different from them is a freak?
I think freak is the wrong word to use to GUESS how Japanese people view foreigners (westerners). We are just different. Probably, the average Japanese person has a range of views--admiration, fear, indifference, etc--that all come into play when they encounter a foreigner, if they ever do...actually, this all sounds so silly--it's as if Japanese people might one day encounter a rare dodo bird in the wild and tell their friends "You'll never guess what I encountered." Come on. Let's give the people of this nation a little credit. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kdynamic
Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 562
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| dove wrote: |
| actually, this all sounds so silly--it's as if Japanese people might one day encounter a rare dodo bird in the wild and tell their friends "You'll never guess what I encountered." Come on. Let's give the people of this nation a little credit. |
That is exactly how many people react. You gave that example as if to demonstrate how ridiculous an idea it is, but, the irony is that it's true! I can give countless examples of meeting and talking to someone, and then later on they go and excitedly tell their friends or write on their blog (!) all about the gaijin they encountered, just as if it were a rare bird. And I can't even count the number of times I have been on the listening end of "14 years ago I once had coffee with a guy from Italy! He smelled like tomato sauce!" and what have you. 14 years later they are still talking about it. Just recently I went scuba diving in Okinawa. On the boat, I ended up chatting with an older woman who's hobby was apparently underwater photography. We have a fairly normal and pleasant conversation. Anyway, after a day of diving, when we got off the boat and said goodbye, she said "I saw a lot of exotic fish today, but for me the most exciting part of this whole trip was meeting a foreigner!! I can't wait to show all my friends the picture of us together!!" Now, if that's not being treated like a dodo bird, I don't know what is.
gaijinalways, the truth is I really like Japanese people. I have many close friends here. My boyfriend is Japanese. There are many positives that go along with being a foreigner in Japan (especially when you consider what it's like to be Japanese in Japan! Wouldn't trade places, thank you!) but, for me, always being a freak is exhausting after a while. Now I am moving to a whole new continent. I can't wait to blend in walking down the street, piercings and all. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dove
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Posts: 271
Location: USA/Japan
|
| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
| To be honest with you, kydynamic, I have to agree with you. I don't want to believe it, but deep down I know you have a point about the way Japanese people view Westerners. I think back to my experiences teaching ESL in Seattle--guess which nationality had the most problems adjusting to "foreigners" yet wanted so much to make "foreign" friends? I think back to all my years in Japan and never really fitting in....but then again, did I ever want to fit in here? Hmmm. I think it's time to get out....Thanks for the debate. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
|
| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 9:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
kdynamic
Got you. Like a lot of people, you're hard to peg sometimes, but I hear you. I certainly think Japanese people that don't leave the Japanese mindset often think this way. My wife, being better travelled than me and having lived abroad for an extended time, is a rare bird. Yet, she still sometimes insists on being very Japanese, even when her frame of mind doesn't fit any reality I know. Oh well, it's time to move on, ne? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
