AH yes! I know the feeling! I do not speak Japanese except the few obligatory tourist words such as "good morning" Good evening" " I'm sorry" etc (always felt that was probably going to be necessary) So after 2 separate month long trips to Japan and practising my 22 words for months repeating after the girl on the "You can speak Japanese" video, I thought I was good to go! I even learnt to say "gomen nasai"--- (point to myself looking apologetic) and adding " Gaijin! " (spelling may be wrong but you know what I mean). Then the person just looked at me blankly. I felt like saying "What's the matter? Dont you understand Japanese?" Another day, my friend and I were walking next to some vegetable fields, with older people working in them. They all stood up to look at us... we enthusiastically called out "Konnichiwa!!" They all replied cheerily "GOOD MORNING!" At least we all laughed at each other.
Bless those old dudes and old babes behind the counter who just get real -- real quick. Not sure if anyone's written about the generational differences in how Japanese treat Gaikoku no Kata, but I think often feel so much ease and love and curiosity and good vibes from the older folks who are basically my parents age. I wonder if it's because more have traveled abroad? Or more have gotten used to the wave of visitors over the years? ❤️
I like how you keep your sense of humor. Lord knows we need it. I love how you weaved the story too. Obliges the reader to engage (or bailout) which is confident…and with good reason. ❤️
Haha, very encouraging! I didn't want to scare her off, you know? But I think I failed in getting her to not speak to white people in English first off...
Care to elaborate? I had quit it pretty much for the better part of the last two years, but it can still be good apparently… I’m yet to see that to be honest.
I experienced this first hand in Hokkaido recently- I and my wife are fluent Japanese speakers but obviously foreign, and often we were met with cold receptions until we opened our mouths. I could see that what had been traditionally Japanese tourist places being taken over by the hordes, who expect English fluency from everyone. But it’s not just language- I think it’s the unpredictability of foreign tourists that is tiring people out. The mix of cultures you see means you have multitudes of folks with different senses of public conduct, personal space and other ingrained expectations. It’s tiring for me even as a ‘foreigner’.
AH yes! I know the feeling! I do not speak Japanese except the few obligatory tourist words such as "good morning" Good evening" " I'm sorry" etc (always felt that was probably going to be necessary) So after 2 separate month long trips to Japan and practising my 22 words for months repeating after the girl on the "You can speak Japanese" video, I thought I was good to go! I even learnt to say "gomen nasai"--- (point to myself looking apologetic) and adding " Gaijin! " (spelling may be wrong but you know what I mean). Then the person just looked at me blankly. I felt like saying "What's the matter? Dont you understand Japanese?" Another day, my friend and I were walking next to some vegetable fields, with older people working in them. They all stood up to look at us... we enthusiastically called out "Konnichiwa!!" They all replied cheerily "GOOD MORNING!" At least we all laughed at each other.
Haha 😆 nice one! I love those situations :)
Many times I have said konnichiwa to school kids and got back a chorus of 'harro' in return
Bless those old dudes and old babes behind the counter who just get real -- real quick. Not sure if anyone's written about the generational differences in how Japanese treat Gaikoku no Kata, but I think often feel so much ease and love and curiosity and good vibes from the older folks who are basically my parents age. I wonder if it's because more have traveled abroad? Or more have gotten used to the wave of visitors over the years? ❤️
I wonder! And agree completely! They’re always so nice, maybe they’re just more curious in general?
Yeah, I can't quite figure it out but it is usually pretty delightful. Worthy of continued investigation for sure 😄
If by that you mean going to various stores in and around Japan to see how the older folks react then yes, I am on board.
Already working on it 😉
Omotenashi in action! It really throws the “What’s that in English” crowd when you reply you only speak French
Yeah! That’s what I most want to get at! I could be Russian for all they know :p
I like how you keep your sense of humor. Lord knows we need it. I love how you weaved the story too. Obliges the reader to engage (or bailout) which is confident…and with good reason. ❤️
Thank you bro! Life’s too short to be bitter! And I appreciate that you appreciate it :)
Oh, I would have said something like, 英語で言ってくれよ．英語で！
Haha, very encouraging! I didn't want to scare her off, you know? But I think I failed in getting her to not speak to white people in English first off...
Forget Medium, dude
Care to elaborate? I had quit it pretty much for the better part of the last two years, but it can still be good apparently… I’m yet to see that to be honest.
Yeah, medium was cool a long time ago but now substack is the place
Yeah that was the sense I got too!
I used to get all grinded in the gears about this ridiculous language behavior. Now I just happily speak whatever they want. Meh.
I experienced this first hand in Hokkaido recently- I and my wife are fluent Japanese speakers but obviously foreign, and often we were met with cold receptions until we opened our mouths. I could see that what had been traditionally Japanese tourist places being taken over by the hordes, who expect English fluency from everyone. But it’s not just language- I think it’s the unpredictability of foreign tourists that is tiring people out. The mix of cultures you see means you have multitudes of folks with different senses of public conduct, personal space and other ingrained expectations. It’s tiring for me even as a ‘foreigner’.
I feel like your first mistake was going to Starbucks...