Comments on: Being a foreigner in Japan

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 07:38:09 +0000

Replying very late but…

Adam: yeah there are definitely pros and cons. The staring actually doesn’t bother me much as I am pretty used to it now. The free stuff is nice though. When people try to practice English with me that is a little frustrating but I guess I understand.

John: well said, well said. I imagine there were both very good times and bad I’m the EU.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:51:25 +0000

Thanks for sharing your experiences here; this is very thoughtful and well-written. I find your final sentence in this posting quite beautiful: “As Buddhism shows, we all live in relative existence to one another, so no one thing is perfect in its own right, but the totality of this existence, this inter-relationship, is exquisite beyond words.” I’ve traveled in Europe where my own “foreignness” is visually and linguistically “obvious” at first glance, and the little nuances of interpersonal exchanges can reveal much about attitudes of the “guest” as well as the “visitor.”

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:43:46 +0000

Being a foreigner in Japan is both a blessing and a curse. Getting stared at daily is annoying, but getting free drinks and attention from pretty people is great. Who’s going to buy you drinks all night long back home?

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:06:36 +0000

Hi guys sorry for the late reply:

Arun: the 10,000 rule is awesome. I’ve heard it used in the context of meditation but not language but it makes a lot of sense. By yeah in general it requires a lot of polishing and polishing to make things better. I just get frustrated during conversations where I feel especially dumb. :-/

Tornadoes yeah I know that feeling too. I don’t want to just be another Tokyo expat who doesn’t venture out much in the culture. So it’s nice when you can really immerse for a time. But yesterday I saw a fellow in a Tokyo train station who just had the dress, style and swagger of someone who had been in Tokyo for a long time, in a good way (well-adapted), so there’s hope for us all.

Rory Special vocabulary indeed. A whole languages worth.

By: Rory

Rory — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:32:48 +0000

Doug; certain things require certain vocabulary; food, Buddhism all are special things, so don’t kick yourself.

I lived in Paris, had French since I was 6 yrs old. Guess what I went to the hairdresser & for the life of me couldn’t say “when you cut it; watch out for my two cowlicks in back & I like to wear my hair wavy..” that was a special dictionary moment.

By: Tornadoes28

Tornadoes28 — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:13:24 +0000

I know that feeling well and I am quite used to the stares now. I really stick out though as I’m 6’3″ (190.5cm) and my wife’s family lives in a relatively small town in rural Tochigi about 4 hours north of Tokyo. I can spend 2 or 3 weeks there and never see another foreigner. In a way I like it.

By: arunlikhati

arunlikhati — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:40:36 +0000

Conversation usually improves in certain content areas. For example, when ordering food there’s usually a relatively standard set of expressions and routines/“scripts” with small tweaks from establishment to establishment. It may help to gauge your conversational ability by focusing on improving certain types of interactions–otherwise a broader judgment of your Japanese competency will mask the progress you make in specific areas. From what you write, I get the sense that your competency is better than you seem to think it is–you just don’t yet have as full an inventory of experience, such that you can quickly recognize and even expect what people are going to say. But remember the 10,000 hours rule: you are what you do every day. Keep up the good work! Before you know it, you’ll probably be writing classic Japanese science fiction novels!