What is the question you never want to hear again?

[ichigo partygirl]

Was asked for the 70,000th time today if i ate natto. Starting thinking bout questions/statementts myself, and other FGs i know have been asked/told so many times..........its beyond being polite now
Please vote - and add any others that make your blood boil!

[Big Booger]

How big is your ~?

[Andocrates]

What is the question/statement do you never want to hear again?

"Son, your dad is a lesbian." Man, I never want to hear that again.

It's pretty normal to need a warm up question, like "do you eat natto?" This gives you room to play around and steer the conversation. If you say "Yea,it's good." you clearly just want to get rid of the person and they will sense it.

If you say, "Mazui!" They will warm up to you. You can also try : "My god even Koreans wouldn't eat that."

[gomichild]

Ugh the natto question drives me nuts too. But then I'm a bit of a fussy eater so when asked the question I respond with all of the food I don't like to eat until the askers little eyes glaze over.

The other one is the chopsticks statement - "You use chopsticks well" - for goodness sake using chopsticks is not rocket science...

[canman]

I hate this question. First off, I didn't know my blood type until I required knee surgery a few years back. Secondly who the hell cares, unless I'm hemorraging from the eyes ears and mouth and you are about to attempt to rescue me.

[james]

go almost apoplectic on me.. i really thought his head was going to pop off.. guess i didn't try hard enough.

he came at me with the "nihongo ga o-jyouzu desu ne" after i'd said all of "konbanwa" i told him that japanese is really quite easy and that russian is actually much harder (easier to read, no doubt but the grammar is much more involved). he seemed to tense up a little so i tried to assuage him, telling him i really like japan but that it's really hard to tell the difference between the seasons here, not like canada where we have four unique seasons.. i'm not sure what happened but the conversation seemed to go downhill from there :P

actually, being from ottawa, i pretty much consider end of april through to the end of october here to be pretty summer-like and from november-march to be more fall-like than anything else. it's only because i'm up in a mountain range and we get lots of snow that i even know it's winter here. an hour away they hardly get any and i'm supposedly in one of the colder parts of the country.

the blood-type question doesn't really bother me.. my students are constantly asking me that. guess i've been here too long because i'm starting to believe there's some truth to the whole blood-type personality thing..

"My god even Koreans wouldn't eat that.".. heh heh i'm going to have to try that one sometime.

[FG Lurker]

Statement: How about from a girlfriend, "I think I'm pregnant"....

I don't mind the inane questions too much but I don't enjoy having strangers try to use me for English practice. Recently I apologize in Japanese and say that I only speak <insert language here>. Less common languages get more interesting reactions. Maybe I'll try saying Klingon next time.

[FG Lurker]

The other one is the chopsticks statement - "You use chopsticks well" - for goodness sake using chopsticks is not rocket science...

This one always cracks me up. Especially if we've been carrying on in an active conversation in Japanese waiting for our food... Then when the food comes they are astonished I can use chopsticks.

WTF!? Is using chopsticks somehow more difficult than learning a language?

[Andocrates]

On the other hand, I've seen countless gaijins who can't eat with chopsticks. It's like their hands are broken. It's funny to watch them get something almost to their mouth and then it falls. Ha Ha, maybe they get filled with pride at the last second and the chopsticks sense it.

[cstaylor]

Stupidest question ever heard: "Do they have McDonald's in America"?

[FG Lurker]

On the other hand, I've seen countless gaijins who can't eat with chopsticks. It's like their hands are broken. It's funny to watch them get something almost to their mouth and then it falls. Ha Ha, maybe they get filled with pride at the last second and the chopsticks sense it.

But I'd bet you haven't seen any who could speak Japanese but not use chopsticks... Or even any who had been here more than a month and unable.

[Mels]

I get the chopstick comments all the time. They would be amazed that I could hold the chopstick in the correct way...etc...I just tell them my Japanese grandfather taught me.

Or, when you flip your chops over when selecting a piece of food from the large dish. They say, wow, you are very polite and have great manners. Heck, we do that in the US too.

This is another irritating thing about Japanese. Mom can get this way.
May not be a question, but irritates the f** out of me and I wonder if you all have gone through this.

HISTUKOI!!!!!!! Some can be so damn pushy, more so then in the US. Every damn time we have a company meeting..I like to sit in a location that I am not elbow to elbow with someone. Hell, it is damn uncomfortable. So, when I sit in a chair, maybe just a little at the end of the table to avoid the direct contact, but still positioned well for the meeting, some J girl will say...oh please sit here. I say, I am good, thank you. Then she continues to comment, NO please, I insist...then it becomes such a big ordeal and people start to say...whats wrong...because she is making a scene.

I know she means well. but dang LEAVE ME THE F** alone.

Hmmm, not sure if I am the only one who is f**ed here.

Peace out

[Lethain]

The chopstick comment kills me. Recently Ive started responding by saying that even children can use chopsticks. I have yet to get the "Oh, you're being sarcastic" look... I am pretty sure they just think I am stupid, and they may be right.
I live with a host family, and they always jockey me into random positions I don't want to be in. Once at a 'party' we went to, I sat down a solid thirty minutes before they even arrived, but they still made me switch seats for to appease their internal sense of zen or somesuch.
The slice of life interaction that kills me is the driveby hellos of people who desperately NEED to say hello to me, but absolutely cannot fathom waiting for a response, or even for me to notice them before running away.

[Andocrates]

But seating order is important to Japanese, and they don't know what the order until everyone is there.

[vir-jin]

sei ga takai desune!
hai, 180 sentchi desu!
sugooooooooooooooi!

ashi ga nagai desu ne!
soooo desu ne! 10 sentchi agemasu!
sugooooooooooooooi!

kami no ke mijikai desu ne!
iie! 3 milli deshita toki ni, samukatta desu kara...!
demo, niattemasu ne! kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidesu ne!

[Taro Toporific]

The Japanese Inquisition: "Do you have a gun?"

No, you you need one?

I mean do you have a gun in America.

Oh, I thought you were in the market for one. I am quit capable of making one if you need it for your work. I used to make then all the time when I was a kid.

Eih. In America, I mean do you own a gun in America?

Well, yes. I own many tools on the ranch and guns are a tool. Generally I shoot wild dogs and avoid shooting people except litering Japanese tourists.

[hakuman]

You guys are a bunch of whiners. These people are asking you these questions and making these statements to be friendly, and you are all hosttile about it. Suck it up, smile, and answer the question. If you dont like it, go home and quit whining.

[FG Lurker]

You guys are a bunch of whiners. These people are asking you these questions and making these statements to be friendly, and you are all hosttile about it. Suck it up, smile, and answer the question. If you dont like it, go home and quit whining.

Hehe, how to make a lot of friends on a FG forum...

How long have you been in Japan?

[Socratesabroad]

FWIW, the Chinese aren't much different when it comes to the questions (though I've never heard Chinese say 'China's xx is no. 1').

A white face= American
Anyone over 18=you must be an English teacher or work for a foreign company
Broken Chinese=You must have studied Chinese before coming or you've lived in China for years

But at least there are no obvious same-sex attempts to check out, ahem, package size.

I've found a way to forestall the broken English onslaught, though, by immediately claiming to be German (profound apologies to any actual Germans). That curbs their attempts at broken English, though it invariably leads to a detailed discussion of how good German cars are. And to maintain my 'cover,' I've even had to research pricing info on German cars in Germany because sooner or later I'll be asked 'how much is such and such in your country?'

[hakuman]

Hehe, how to make a lot of friends on a FG forum...

How long have you been in Japan?

Not so concerned with making friends with a bunch of whiners. Im sure there are other ppl on this site who arent whiners, so my comment was more for the ppl who were bitching in this thread.

I have been in Japan for 4 1/2 years.

[Ketou]

Not so concerned with making friends with a bunch of whiners. Im sure there are other ppl on this site who arent whiners, so my comment was more for the ppl who were bitching in this thread.

I have been in Japan for 4 1/2 years.

People on the forum aren't so much whining, more so letting off steam.
There is a lot of sarcasm and such but the very large majority of posters here will just as quickly defend Japan/Japanese as complain about them.

It would probably have been better to try and get to know people here first before making such comments.

[hakuman]

People on the forum aren't so much whining, more so letting off steam

you call it letting off steam, I call it whining.

There is a lot of sarcasm and such but the very large majority of posters here will just as quickly defend Japan/Japanese as complain about them

I have seen many ppl defend Japan on this site. Its nicer to see than the whining.

It would probably have been better to try and get to know people here first before making such comments.

For what purpose? I call it as I see it. If they cant handle what I am saying, well thats too bad. Doesnt change the fact that they are whining about ppl trying to be friendly to them. This site is fucked gaijin, and the ppl making these statements definitely fit that profile.

[Andocrates]

Not so concerned with making friends with a bunch of whiners. Im sure there are other ppl on this site who arent whiners, so my comment was more for the ppl who were bitching in this thread.

I have been in Japan for 4 1/2 years.

People on the forum aren't so much whining, more so letting off steam.
There is a lot of sarcasm and such but the very large majority of posters here will just as quickly defend Japan/Japanese as complain about them.

It would probably have been better to try and get to know people here first before making such comments.

Come on now ketou let's call a spade a spade. This is definitely whining (although, the former poster is just a little bitch)

[Mini_B]

The chopstick one is annoying. The funny thing is watching a Nihonjin eat with a knife and fork. Some of them are really horrible.

Your Japanese is good = (really means your Japanese sucks)

How about when you buy something at the electronics store and they ask you if you'll be taking it with you. What the fuck kind of question is that?

Or...Can you eat sushi?

The one that pisses me off to the point of wanting to get violent:
Excuse me, foreigners aren't allowed in here/can't rent this apartment.

They shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. I say we rise up against the power. Is there a Black Panthers section in Japan?

[hakuman]

Come on now ketou let's call a spade a spade. This is definitely whining

Thanks for defending me

although, the former poster is just a little bitch

Im a bitch for calling a spade a spade? You just said "lets call a spade a spade"

Im hoping you can understand why that seems fucked up to me.

[hakuman]

on a separate note andorcrates, that chick in your avatar is hot.

[Andocrates]

Im hoping you can understand why that seems fucked up to me.

Because you are new here and so you start off with this negativity. I can bitch about my sister or my father, my friends can bitch about my sister or my father, but if a stranger does it there will be trouble.

But, I hope to see you post more,

[hakuman]

makes sense. Still doesnt change the fact that Im right though!!!

hahaha

Ill be back. I post occasionally, just not a regular.

[Mels]

makes sense. Still doesnt change the fact that Im right though!!!

hahaha

Ill be back. I post occasionally, just not a regular.

Betsuni ijyanai no? Toki doki koko de monku ittate, sonna OGESA na kotto jyano no ni, anatawa ogesa ni shitte iru. Nihon jin datte monku bakari, anta date monku iteiru. Sonnani yaddatara, yomanaide inoyo. Hontou ni, ERASOU ni. Hito o baka ni surun jyanai noyo.

[Andocrates]