For example, I'm born and raised in Canada BUT even till this day I am always encountered with "So what are you?", "Where are you from?", "Wow, you don't have an accent", "When did you learn English?", or just plain ass rude people who assume I'm Chinese and start a conversation with the "Ni hao ma?"
This is why I HATE public transportation or the occasional festivals/events because on average there are 4-5 people that shoot those questions at me.
If you want to know someone start a proper conversation with them, don't just categorize those people into a slot entwined with stereotypes.
Edit: Although the questions may vary from one country to another.
Although perhaps it wouldn't be as noticeable in areas where tourism is very common, or there are many different ethnicity. I know that in my country tourism and immigration are two of the main powers behind our economy. While we tend to be prickly in nature (like most of the Middle East), we do generally treat newcomers like everyone else. Unless they're being obnoxious about their foreign-ness, which happens too XD
I can say this much, and I'm sure it applies to a lot of other countries: I emigrated here about ten years ago. I still occasionally get questions about when I moved here and how I coped, but it's less a "prod the foreigner with a stick to see what she does" and more a "I actually care about you on a personal level and want to know your story". There's a difference in attitude, I think. I did feel like something of a zoo exhibit for a while, but it was only for a couple of months, while I was still bumbling around trying to figure out how to cope.
Actually, the idea is pretty universal, judging by what I've heard from friends in other tourist-rich areas. I grew up in NYC and it was the same. When everyone's so mixed, you can't even tell who's native and who's not. The same goes for Toronto, London, a lot of different places.
The point I was trying to make is that when you come from a really diverse area, the "outsider" microagression is different. Sure, there's still racism, classism, sexism, etc, but I don't think it relates as much to whether you're local or not.
Just to add, "gaijin" is more to casual way of speaking. I doubt people who don't know the foreigner will call them "gaijin", or at least not as I know. No one ever call me that even though I'm clearly not Japanese, and I've been communicating with Japanese people ever since I was 12, that means it's been 12 years. People will usually refer foreigner as "gaikokujin", which is the polite and correct term of saying foreigners.
EDIT: After I read the comments below seems like I'm just lucky to find good friends who never call me "gaijin" or other offensive words.
And about "ganbatte", it can be offensive to people who are not Japanese I guess. Japanese people say ganbatte so casually it sometimes can annoy you, but the meaning not about "do your best" all the time. It's more to good luck charm for Japanese people. When they visit me last year and ask me to cook, they said "ganbatte" to me even though they know I can cook pretty well. It's just more like a habit to them. Whether it's offensive or not, it's each of their own I guess.
When I visited Japan in 2009 some people where curious about why I was interested in Japanese culture, where I am from, etc... but I never took it as something offensive. Even my ex-boyfriend's family addressed me as "insert name-chan" I was there for 3 weeks so I guess you need more time to start feeling the offensive vibes or maybe I was just lucky to meet great people :)
yup that's what I thought :) ... but some part of me wants to believe that you can truly become part of something. =/ call me delusional I don't know but that's just my opinion ^^
Then you were really lucky I guess. When I was in Japan there were times when I was feeling like an alien. Almost daily people left free sits beside me and my friend even if the train was packed or they even got up and changed their seats if we sat beside them. And we didn't smell bad (we checked :p)/ate anything/talked etc. We just sat there in silence and still people didn't want to sit next to us. Since we were there for only a month it didn't bother me much but if someone lives in Japan for years and still gets such treatment it might be really unpleasant. And people talked about us a lot in the bus/metro/train. They commented about our clothes/weight etc. We almost always were refered to as "gaijins" and some comments weren't very flattering. One time we couldn't take it anymore so we told the people sitting opposite us that we actually understand Japanese. They got very embarassed and left the train immediately so we at least got some satisfaction after they called us fat baka gaijins -_-
I must admit, at first I was irked by the wowing at my Japanese, but since I'm very insecure about my Japanese I came to interpret it and other questions as flattery and things became a lot easier. However, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by good, open-minded Japanese friends, including one who actually leaped to my defense when others were calling me 'gaijin'.
I am concerned though, that maybe the reason why people around me were less likely to exhibit microaggressions is because my appearance is more 'Japanese-like' (especially when wearing a uniform) than the other foreign students.
Yeah, I think looking Japanese really affects the treatment you get, especially from strangers. I've had random people ask me for directions and they usually can't tell I'm not Japanese, so I don't get people staring at me on trains and stuff. But when people DO find out I'm NJ, I always get the whole WOW routine. It doesn't bother me much anymore, but I can see why it would bother other people.
I do sometimes wonder if the shock is because they've encountered tourists who have difficulties with Japanese, but it also could be because of the exaggerated portrayal of foreigners in the media, which is sad ):
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For example, I'm born and raised in Canada BUT even till this day I am always encountered with "So what are you?", "Where are you from?", "Wow, you don't have an accent", "When did you learn English?", or just plain ass rude people who assume I'm Chinese and start a conversation with the "Ni hao ma?"
This is why I HATE public transportation or the occasional festivals/events because on average there are 4-5 people that shoot those questions at me.
If you want to know someone start a proper conversation with them, don't just categorize those people into a slot entwined with stereotypes.
Edit: Although the questions may vary from one country to another.
Reply
I can say this much, and I'm sure it applies to a lot of other countries: I emigrated here about ten years ago. I still occasionally get questions about when I moved here and how I coped, but it's less a "prod the foreigner with a stick to see what she does" and more a "I actually care about you on a personal level and want to know your story". There's a difference in attitude, I think. I did feel like something of a zoo exhibit for a while, but it was only for a couple of months, while I was still bumbling around trying to figure out how to cope.
Wow that was rambly. Sorry!
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The point I was trying to make is that when you come from a really diverse area, the "outsider" microagression is different. Sure, there's still racism, classism, sexism, etc, but I don't think it relates as much to whether you're local or not.
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EDIT:
After I read the comments below seems like I'm just lucky to find good friends who never call me "gaijin" or other offensive words.
And about "ganbatte", it can be offensive to people who are not Japanese I guess. Japanese people say ganbatte so casually it sometimes can annoy you, but the meaning not about "do your best" all the time. It's more to good luck charm for Japanese people. When they visit me last year and ask me to cook, they said "ganbatte" to me even though they know I can cook pretty well. It's just more like a habit to them.
Whether it's offensive or not, it's each of their own I guess.
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I've been looking through many entries there and dear god, I've headdesked so hard at so many of them. :|
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(then comes lol)
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I was there for 3 weeks so I guess you need more time to start feeling the offensive vibes or maybe I was just lucky to meet great people :)
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And people talked about us a lot in the bus/metro/train. They commented about our clothes/weight etc. We almost always were refered to as "gaijins" and some comments weren't very flattering. One time we couldn't take it anymore so we told the people sitting opposite us that we actually understand Japanese. They got very embarassed and left the train immediately so we at least got some satisfaction after they called us fat baka gaijins -_-
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I must admit, at first I was irked by the wowing at my Japanese, but since I'm very insecure about my Japanese I came to interpret it and other questions as flattery and things became a lot easier.
However, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by good, open-minded Japanese friends, including one who actually leaped to my defense when others were calling me 'gaijin'.
I am concerned though, that maybe the reason why people around me were less likely to exhibit microaggressions is because my appearance is more 'Japanese-like' (especially when wearing a uniform) than the other foreign students.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
I do sometimes wonder if the shock is because they've encountered tourists who have difficulties with Japanese, but it also could be because of the exaggerated portrayal of foreigners in the media, which is sad ):
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