1( yup, i know everyone has to submit their photo for hiring. i should have mentioned that in the above. whoops!
2) yeah, i'm aware that the laws are changing too regarding gaijin cards. woohoooooo! i think...maybe. i actually need to brush up on that change. as far as the US finger printing goes, i'd call that discrimination too, or at least a violation of civil liberties.
how's your experience but up there on mainland? is there a large foreign population in takamatsu?
i definitely think the transgressions done by people on base and former ALTs here has damaged the reputation of foreigners a lot down here. and the japanese media has definitely done its part to fuel the fires and promote stereotypes.
the first time i got asked for my card, i was just driving while being foreign. and i didnt have it on me at the time. but since i was close enough to my apt., they followed me home and let me go get it. the second time, though, i got grilled for a minute until they realized i was an english teacher. immediately afterward they were like, "can you teach me english?" hmmmmm...
you guys should toooooottally take a vacation down here by the way. okinawa soba > udon, yo.
Some people might think it's because of your skin color, but you and me know that in Japan it doesn't matter. For Japanese all non-Asian foreigners are foreigners, exotic, American, can only speak English, are loud, stink, possibly carry a gun or something around and definitely don't know anything about Japanese culture or how to behave well. If you prove them wrong, you'll get to see some awesome jawdrops. It IS annoying, but on the other hand we also are often very lucky that we can play the "gaijin card" in other situations. It's not all bad.
I really enjoyed your post! I had a lot of discriminating situations, too and I'm a innocent looking white woman. Yet grandmothers look shocked and almost run away when they turn around and see me (doesn't happen often). JEEZ! .....
Have you heard about Loco before? He's a black man living in Yokohama and he just wrote a book about all that shit! "My name is Loco and I'm a racist"
yeah! i've been reading his blog more and more lately...that might be why there has been a lot more posts about discrimination on my blog hahahahaha. have you ever felt like you have to try extra hard to dispel stereotypes or what you perceive to be people's image of you? think something like that might be lined up over the next couple of posts.
Well just to let you know, Japan has experienced terrorism. A cult named Aum Shinrikyo unleashed a lethal sarin gas attack on Japanese subways in 1995. But thanks for sharing, I never knew Japan was like that...
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2) yeah, i'm aware that the laws are changing too regarding gaijin cards. woohoooooo! i think...maybe. i actually need to brush up on that change. as far as the US finger printing goes, i'd call that discrimination too, or at least a violation of civil liberties.
how's your experience but up there on mainland? is there a large foreign population in takamatsu?
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(The comment has been removed)
the first time i got asked for my card, i was just driving while being foreign. and i didnt have it on me at the time. but since i was close enough to my apt., they followed me home and let me go get it. the second time, though, i got grilled for a minute until they realized i was an english teacher. immediately afterward they were like, "can you teach me english?" hmmmmm...
you guys should toooooottally take a vacation down here by the way. okinawa soba > udon, yo.
Reply
Some people might think it's because of your skin color, but you and me know that in Japan it doesn't matter.
For Japanese all non-Asian foreigners are foreigners, exotic, American, can only speak English, are loud, stink, possibly carry a gun or something around and definitely don't know anything about Japanese culture or how to behave well.
If you prove them wrong, you'll get to see some awesome jawdrops.
It IS annoying, but on the other hand we also are often very lucky that we can play the "gaijin card" in other situations. It's not all bad.
I really enjoyed your post!
I had a lot of discriminating situations, too and I'm a innocent looking white woman. Yet grandmothers look shocked and almost run away when they turn around and see me (doesn't happen often).
JEEZ! .....
Have you heard about Loco before?
He's a black man living in Yokohama and he just wrote a book about all that shit! "My name is Loco and I'm a racist"
Reply
Reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway
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