Debito makes the NY Times!

[cstaylor]

Ass, are you saying that it's like "pissing into the wind"?

[AssKissinger]

Ass, are you saying that it's like "pissing into the wind"?

Well that's part of it but not exactly. My main point is that tangible discrimination that can be legislated against is not a problem for westerners in Japan. I'm using the termed 'westerner' now to distinguish from ethnic Koreans. They need legislative help. But, simply put, your typical FG doesn't. Our problem is our lack of connection with Japanese society. It's the whole fucking gaijin/outsider thing. And even that, would you really want it to change? I mean even though there's a downside I like being a gaijin. If there wasn't this subtle kind of bigotry all you'd have to do incorporate yourself into Japanese society would be to learn the language. In fact, if there wasn't the discrimination our lives here would be like the Japanese. Fuck that! I don't want to have a Japanese native experience. Seriously, no thank-you. I want to live in my weird gaijin bubble and float around on the outskirts of society. Although it is my reality it's also my defense against reality. Partly, of course it's a 'you have to take the good with the bad' kind of thing. It's also a 'who want's to be normal' kind of thing. And in part it's a 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' kind of thing. So how can I justify my no friends comment and simultaneously defend Japan and the lives we live here? It's easy, I don't want to be their fucking friend anyway. I used to but now I don't.

[Cubed]

My subtle trick to prevent discrimination is to learn the language and speak it to people right off the bat and quickly. Oftentimes I could catch people off-guard by blasting them with colloquial Tokyo-ben.

They were so taken aback that even with mouse-brown hair and green eyes, they didn't even notice I was FG*








* mileage may vary.

[cstaylor]

Yeah, I agree with Cubed: it's a lot easier if you can actually connect with people in their own language.

[Shinigami]

="cstaylor
So, how can a Japanese customer tell the difference, just looking through the dimly lit room, that the customer is Russian, and not an English teacher or a Japanese citizen of foreign birth (Debito)? Why not just tell it like it is, "We cater to racists, since they're our largest customers".

That's the nipponese in a nutshell.... Racist..