The Different Kinds Of Foreigners In Japan

[SpookySmoothie]

So there are many people on here with a lot of experience living in Japan and I'm sure you come across other foreigners who live there or work over there,travel there etc. Do they ever fall into particular categories? Behaviours or ways they adjust to living in a different place etc. Have you ever met somebody who recently moved to Japan and just said "They probably won't last more than a year"?

 

[Sudsy]

Have you ever met somebody who recently moved to Japan and just said "They probably won't last more than a year"?

In the course of my job, I meet a lot of executives - what always intrigues me are the ones who are clearly sent out here as punishment. They get sent out, then given no language support and no duties. Pretty plain that head office wants them to bail without having to pay out severance or take political flack.

 

[TAG Manager]

In the course of my job, I meet a lot of executives - what always intrigues me are the ones who are clearly sent out here as punishment. They get sent out, then given no language support and no duties. Pretty plain that head office wants them to bail without having to pay out severance or take political flack.

I meet executives too; but I can't tell if they're unhappy or happy... but they are certainly well taken care of, lol.

Those that I believe would fail at living in Japan, usually are the ones who refuse to learn anything about the culture or social rules here and try to impose their own culture or lifestyle on everyone else around them. Those are the people that then get on blogs and other social media ranting about how life in Japan sucks, yet they are still here. Or, how much 'better' they are than everyone else.... despite not being able to hold a regular job, etc. -- It's Japan's fault because they don't want to fit in with the culture of the typical workplace environments. (Yeah, they aren't great.. but you have to be flexible.)

 

[Sudsy]

Those that I believe would fail at living in Japan, usually are the ones who refuse to learn anything about the culture or social rules here and try to impose their own culture or lifestyle on everyone else around them.

You would think, but I once met an American in Geronimo's that was actually prideful of the fact that he had been in Japan for ten years and still hadn't learned how to count to ten in Japanese.

 

[TAG Manager]

You would think, but I once met an American in Geronimo's that was actually prideful of the fact that he had been in Japan for ten years and still hadn't learned how to count to ten in Japanese.

Wow. I've met that type before... You have wonder what poor soul has to help that sap get through his life here. Unless he's spoon-fed by his company, then someone has had to have helped him. Poor J-girlfriend(s) or wife hidden at home...

 

[john.smith]

You would think, but I once met an American in Geronimo's that was actually prideful of the fact that he had been in Japan for ten years and still hadn't learned how to count to ten in Japanese.

Do you know the old joke:
-"How do you call someone speaking 3 languages ?"
-"A trilinguist"
-"Someone who speaks 2 languages ?"
-"A bilinguist"
-"Someone who speaks 1 language ?"
-"An american"

 

[TAG Manager]

Do you know the old joke:
-"How do you call someone speaking 3 languages ?"
-"A trilinguist"
-"Someone who speaks 2 languages ?"
-"A bilinguist"
-"Someone who speaks 1 language ?"
-"An american"

Never heard that and it's so true, lol. (laughing at myself, ha!)
When I was growing up, English was it... foreign language in early elementary school or even high school was a mere passing thought back then. Now, I hear about kids getting more exposure to languages other than English at a earlier age as part of basic public school programs. (I hear about Chinese and Spanish being the top two for early learners.)

This is a perfect example of one of those "Had I known then, what I know now..." kind of cases.

 

[john.smith]

In my school there was english and another secondary language. So after 7 years, you could speak 3 languages.
But the brain is really good for forgetting what you don't use, so I forgot the secondary language, after wasting 7 years on it.

 

[TAG Manager]

To be very honest, I've actually spent very little time formally studying Japanese. I'm very embarrassed about that, but when you work a stressful job (using both English and Japanese) and then come home in the late evening hours, the last thing I want to do is study something.

However..... during the time I've been in Japan, I've managed to learn enough Japanese to function at work more effectively as well as socially. If I go back and think about if I had applied myself more in studying the language, I'd probably be much more fluent now than what I currently am. /facepalm

When I'm using Japanese, I'm definitely playing the puzzle game trying to string phrases together and then fill in the blanks in a conversation. (i'm not as bad it sounds, just depends on the subject and context of the discussion!)

 

[SpookySmoothie]

Language is a funny thing whenever I've been in a classroom I've really failed to learn anything. I did 7 years of French and 2 years of German in school and barely speak a word or it. Maybe a bit better in German because I have friends from there. I went travelling on a gap year to Central and South America and learned pretty good Spanish because I was surrounded by it. I tend to learn faster when I kind of have to because I'm in a place where not everyone speaks English and learning how to say things in their own language is beneficial. Japanese doesn't seem that difficult the advanced end is but compared to English far less words and they seem to use the same word a lot and just change a syllable to change the meaning. My Japanese is pretty crap but I can get by ordering food and drink or in some basic conversation. Given a year or two in the country I think I'd learn enough to be passable. Just depends if you want to learn I guess. Understanding what people are saying seems to just be remembering the same few words and trying to understand what the extra word that creates the meaning is lol.

There are people who move to other countries and never feel the need to speak the local lingo met them everywhere it's sort of embarrassing just to watch them. I guess you could do it in Japan with a Japanese wife and when you go out stick to the Western companies for food and drink because they always seem to have a staff member who speaks really good English. Though every place seems to have pictures on the menu so you can just point at things anyway. Pretty much anywhere I went in the world I met people living there from other countries and I'm just like "Why did you even come here if you hate it so much?" In Japan the only ones like that I saw were online and they tend to be delusional young people on a working holiday or doing foreign study staying with a host family who found Japan wasn't what they expected or they can't grasp the concept of different rules than they are used to.

 

[TokyoJoeblow]

Why all the hate on "Americans"? I'm from southern California and there are a ton of bilingual/trilingual folks...you must be referring to the Bible belt region lol.

I can speak English, conversational level Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish...I'm from the US lol.

 

[meiji]

I'm from southern California and there are a ton of bilingual/trilingual folks...you must be referring to the Bible belt region lol.

Southern California is one of the largest multicultural regions in the US. The term "Ugly American" has been around for a long, LONG time. There's a reason that there's a joke about Americans claiming to be Canadian when they are overseas.

These days, there's definitely growing multiculturalism, but aside from states bordering Mexico and a few big cities, I'd argue that for a big part of US history there was next to no exposure to foreign cultures for most Americans. That, along with American exceptionalism that's led to paternalistic military and economic expansionism, hasn't given American or Americans a very good reputation. One argument I've heard about American outlook on foreign cultures is that the vast majority of Americans that have spent time overseas have been in the US military and often as occupiers, and often over either 3rd world countries/countries that have been devastated by war. Military guys that call Asian women LBFM (Little Brown Fucking Machines) probably aren't going to go out of their way to respect the culture or learn Vietnamese or Tagalog. Not to mention the usual American personal openness, which can be friendly and gregarious when it's the good, and annoying and disruptive when it's bad.

Yes, the Bible Belt (lol) is a core of monoculturalism, but so is most of the mountain west, the midwest, and a lot of the northeast, too. And as I said before, there's a lot more multiculturism now than when "Ugly American" was first coined. There's been a big rise in Hispanic population growth, and lately especially Asian folks of all stripes, from Middle Easterners to Indian subcontinent to Chinese and Koreans. When you can go into a city of pretty much any size these days and find good mexican food and any other kind of Asian food other than Chinese or Indian food, you're seeing some good change.

Although of course there's a pretty sizable percentage of Americans that are freaked out about this new multiculturalism and are threatening to elect someone like Trump or Ted Cruz (he of Canadian birth and Cuban heritage) into office. So the "Ugly American" moniker isn't going to die any time sooon.

I'm an American, but I don't think you nor I are average Americans, or even average Americans that go abroad.