So, I have gotten a few people asking about why I don't really have any foreign friends in Japan and I just wanted to address that. I am not one of those weird people who hate other foreign people in Japan for making them less special. (Those people do exist) Just like high school students hating people who copy their “unique look” or indie kids hating Zak Braff introducing everyone to The Shins and their life changing powers, there are tons of foreign people in Japan who hate other foreign people for just being in Japan at the same time as they are. I’m not one of those people. The reason why I don’t have any non-Japanese friends is simple. When I lived in Tokyo with my best friend (who is Vietnamese-Danish), I only spoke English and never studied Japanese. I don’t want to speak English at the expense of learning Japanese. That’s it. There’s no hate involved in why I don’t have Non-Japanese friends in Japan.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
I don't hate anyone.
So, I have gotten a few people asking about why I don't really have any foreign friends in Japan and I just wanted to address that. I am not one of those weird people who hate other foreign people in Japan for making them less special. (Those people do exist) Just like high school students hating people who copy their “unique look” or indie kids hating Zak Braff introducing everyone to The Shins and their life changing powers, there are tons of foreign people in Japan who hate other foreign people for just being in Japan at the same time as they are. I’m not one of those people. The reason why I don’t have any non-Japanese friends is simple. When I lived in Tokyo with my best friend (who is Vietnamese-Danish), I only spoke English and never studied Japanese. I don’t want to speak English at the expense of learning Japanese. That’s it. There’s no hate involved in why I don’t have Non-Japanese friends in Japan.
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11 comments:
(I actually do have my cousin and one of my friends who came here just before me. And two Chinese friends who speak fluent Japanese)
Good to know ^^ I try to hang out with Japanese people to improve my Japanese and such, but like to chill out with some foreign friends from time to time too ^^.
Btw, I added you to my blogroll at gakuranman.com. Would appreciate it if you could do the same for me :)
I'll do even better. I am writing a whole post about yr website. I think it's interesting.
your
then why can't you love meeeee
I am always so struck by the "other white people make me less special" I found it REALLY annoying. I'm pretty open and friendly but it's just not nice to have people very pointedly ignore you.
You'd be shocked to know that some foreigners who live in Japan speak Japanese fluently. Not befriending white people because you can't speak Japanese with them in Japan is sort of funny seeing as how you're not the only one here with Japanese speaking ability.
Hahaha. Do you know how stupid it looks when non-Japanese people with English-speaking ability speak in Japanese to each other?
Sorry. I've seen it.
If we're in a group and my friends don't speak English and there's another English-speaking person in the group (my friend's German boyfriend is fluent in English and Japanese) we'll speak Japanese to each other so that everyone in the group can understand. I also have two Chinese friends who don't speak English, so we speak in Japanese. But two fluent English speakers speaking to each other in Japanese for no reason is the dumbest thing in the world.
Maybe this is just my opinion.
Good luck practicing your Japanese on other foreign people, if that's what you want to do.
And I didn't say anything about white people in this post. My best friend is Danish but she isn't white. Language ability has nothing to do with looks.
Has anything like THIS ever happened to you in Japan?: In Dec 2007 I went to a Ramen shop somewhere in Tokyo with my Japanese friend (I'll say where in just a sec). We had just sat down at the counter when a mixed-couple came in, and as it turns out, SURPRISE SURPRISE!!, the GUY was the caucasian! (and the woman, of course, Japanese). Well well well, how often does one see a sight like this in Tokyo (or San Francisco, or LA)!!
Anyhow, as soon as he saw me, a fellow gaijin, the expression on his face went from smiley-happy to grim-disappointment in the blink of an eye. Not only that, he actually sat on his seat at the counter FACING SIDEWAYS, presumably so that he wouldn't even have to see me in his peripheral field of vision..(can you just picture it?, every time he wanted to eat some of his ramen, he had to sort of slurp it over his left shoulder). Well, at least he didn't have to see this gaijin while he enjoyed his ramen with his lady friend, I suppose.
OK, now for the location of the Ramen shop, (and this is what makes the whole story all the more laughable): Roppongi Hills underground!! Sorry there, sport. But did you actually think you might not run into a few gaijin in this area? HELLOOO!!
So, has anyone ever encountered this level of overt unfriendliness in Japan?? It's become rather quite amusing to observe.
It's often the people who just get arrived who are the least friendly, but it's like that anywhere. NYC people (and Tokyo people) have a reputation for being unfriendly, but I think that stereotype comes from all of the people who come from the surrounding suburbs or elsewhere and feel insecure so they act extra snotty to make up for it.
It's often the places with the most foreign people (roppongi, gion in kyoto, etc) that you get the most attitude from other foreign people.
I just think it's funny. Those people are insecure and want to be special like they just discovered Japan and the attractive people who live here. Just forget about them and let them feel as special as they want to feel. It's funny.
Rude people don't bother me very much. Their rudeness says more about their own insecurities than anything else.
A lot of Caucasian girls give Caucasian guys rude looks because they are jealous that the guy can come over to Japan and be so incredibly popular even without looks, height or personality.
To all the Caucasian girls hating the Charisma Man type, just stop it and laugh. Some people are more popular in certain countries than others. If you want to feel sexy and wanted, go anywhere in Latin America or Africa and you'll get attention. A bald, fat, boring, broke white English teacher would absolutely have no luck there, but he'd likely fare better in Japan than he would in Europe or NA. I don't blame the guys who come here for this reason alone. He's a man with a plan.
You only live once. You may as well live in a country with attractive people who like you back, wherever that is.
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