Tuesday...Culture shock

2011.10.17

Positive difference

Apparently, most Asian countries have never had PB and J sandwiches. One of the kids in my class is from Singapore and they don't eat PB&J there. When we asked our teacher (she is from Japan) about it she also denied knowing about it. He actually said "peanut butter and jelly!! On bread...together...Who eats that?!" One of the most famous sandwiches in America and they thought that it sounded gross and foreign. Just goes to show that there can be some interesting and funny cultural differences. I'm bring some with me tomorrow and see how this works out.

Negative difference

Japan is the most homogeneous populated country in the world with almost 98 percent of its legal residents as native Japanese. So when they see gaijin they have a bad habit of staring...a lot. When little kids or older people do it I don't really have a problem with it. However, I've come across several incidents where we are treated differently because we are gaijin not necessarily badly but bordering upon rude. It seems to be worse for me and Nana (who is native to Nigeria) than for other gaijin. We have become the gaijin within the gaijin. Often we will be out in groups, and Nana will translate the Japanese for us; because her Japanese is fantastic, and they will speak directly to Sophia (who is half Asian) instead of looking at Nana. Most of the time they will talk about us in Japanese when we are RIGHT THERE!! Most of the time I can't understand it all but I get enough to know who they are talking about. At first when it began I wanted to scream "I AM NOT A GAIJIN ZOO ANIMAL, SO STOP STARING AT ME!!

I've had a month to adjust to it and I've coped fairly well. However, it can become very frustrating to be judged and singled out for being a black female gaijin. Sophia actually asked a Japanese friend why people will not talk to us if we are alone with no other gaijin friends around. They said that we were "unapproachable and intimidating". I don't know how to fix this so I've settled for making them feel awkward about staring by meeting their gaze and waving back at them. It doesn't make them talk to me but I feel better for it. I'm hoping that as my language skills improve I will be able to start more conversations and show that I'm just as curious about them as they are about me. I have found that girls on their own are more willing to talk to us than girls in groups or boys, by themselves or in a group. Gaijin guys, regardless of race, seem to have an easier time with the locals.