"When she went to larger cities, children would point her out to their parents in awe. "
I had a very similar experience in Vietnam. It was honestly like being a celebrity. Literally every day I had people running up to me to take pictures and chat (read: practice their English). People invited me to their homes for dinner or wanted to bu…
"When she went to larger cities, children would point her out to their parents in awe. "
I had a very similar experience in Vietnam. It was honestly like being a celebrity. Literally every day I had people running up to me to take pictures and chat (read: practice their English). People invited me to their homes for dinner or wanted to buy me drinks.
It was definitely a little overwhelming at times, but generally a really nice experience, because it all came from a place of genuine newness and curiosity. Everyone was polite and respectful, but in many cases had just never seen somebody who looked like me in the flesh.
My experiences in Japan weren't like that at all, except when I was in very small towns. In big cities, people mostly didn't bat an eyelid. But yes, the reason I've never lived in Japan, despite loving it so much, is that I've heard several stories, even from people whose ethnicity is Japanese but who grew up elsewhere, that the deeply ingrained social etiquette and othering of people who don't fit in perfectly, make it almost impossible to truly integrate.
Being a visitor is fine, but if you want to build a life there, whatever colour you are, I hear there's a lot of resistance.
I bet they showed you around. The acquaintance of a westerner brings status. The fact that I don’t drink alcohol spares me most of this. They hear “I don’t drink” as “I won’t drink with you.”
A Chinese, not do much. Ethnic Chinese are second class citizens here.
I can’t claim to know anything about that but I felt serious hostility in Japan. Chinese tend to be pretty bigoted.
Ok I wasn’t in Japan long, but after all is said and done I didn’t like them. They’re the only people I’ve ever seen smoke while eating. I had a headache over a week from a one-day layover.
I was dating a Japanese guy for a while. We got along great. Suddenly I started getting the voicemail. I forget how I finally managed to see him in person but eventually got through that something totally innocent I had said weeks before he had later reinterpreted in Japanese terns and decided I’d, I don’t know, insulted him or something. It was kind of painful.
I’ve heard a thousand variations on this theme. They may be polite but they will never fully accept someone who isn’t Japanese.
And they have no grasp of cultural relativism at all. If I use the wrong form of address in Vietnam, it’s okay, I’m a foreigner. A similar faux pas in Japan, they won’t say a thing but you’ll go to voicemail forever after.
"When she went to larger cities, children would point her out to their parents in awe. "
I had a very similar experience in Vietnam. It was honestly like being a celebrity. Literally every day I had people running up to me to take pictures and chat (read: practice their English). People invited me to their homes for dinner or wanted to buy me drinks.
It was definitely a little overwhelming at times, but generally a really nice experience, because it all came from a place of genuine newness and curiosity. Everyone was polite and respectful, but in many cases had just never seen somebody who looked like me in the flesh.
My experiences in Japan weren't like that at all, except when I was in very small towns. In big cities, people mostly didn't bat an eyelid. But yes, the reason I've never lived in Japan, despite loving it so much, is that I've heard several stories, even from people whose ethnicity is Japanese but who grew up elsewhere, that the deeply ingrained social etiquette and othering of people who don't fit in perfectly, make it almost impossible to truly integrate.
Being a visitor is fine, but if you want to build a life there, whatever colour you are, I hear there's a lot of resistance.
I bet they showed you around. The acquaintance of a westerner brings status. The fact that I don’t drink alcohol spares me most of this. They hear “I don’t drink” as “I won’t drink with you.”
A Chinese, not do much. Ethnic Chinese are second class citizens here.
Yeah, China was a very different animal to Japan or Vietnam or pretty much any other Asian country I’ve been to.
The people there seemed a lot less welcoming to foreigners and I definitely had the impression there was more of an anti-black tinge to it.
I can’t claim to know anything about that but I felt serious hostility in Japan. Chinese tend to be pretty bigoted.
Ok I wasn’t in Japan long, but after all is said and done I didn’t like them. They’re the only people I’ve ever seen smoke while eating. I had a headache over a week from a one-day layover.
I was dating a Japanese guy for a while. We got along great. Suddenly I started getting the voicemail. I forget how I finally managed to see him in person but eventually got through that something totally innocent I had said weeks before he had later reinterpreted in Japanese terns and decided I’d, I don’t know, insulted him or something. It was kind of painful.
I’ve never dated another Japanese since.
They’re the most insular people on the planet.
I’ve heard a thousand variations on this theme. They may be polite but they will never fully accept someone who isn’t Japanese.
And they have no grasp of cultural relativism at all. If I use the wrong form of address in Vietnam, it’s okay, I’m a foreigner. A similar faux pas in Japan, they won’t say a thing but you’ll go to voicemail forever after.