Comments on: The Japanese Rule of 7

By: Anita

Anita — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:03:30 +0000

When I was in Japan on business a long, long time ago (albeit not in a gaaxly far away), I was presented some natto for breakfast by friends. I ate it. Those dear friends, made me eat it with a spoon without dressing of any kind and that’s it. It is more usually consumed with a bowl of rice, some mustard and soy and whatever other condiments you desire.

By: Ken Seeroi

Ken Seeroi — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:27:04 +0000

I know just what you mean ~

By: crella

crella — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:55:53 +0000

I’ve always meant it to be funny! I sometimes am just driven to being a wise-a** by the questions sometimes.

By: Ken Seeroi

Ken Seeroi — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 03:25:08 +0000

Ha, life imprisonment. That’s funny.

Or is it . . . ?

Sigh.

By: crella

crella — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 02:00:19 +0000

I tell them I married a guy from Kobe, so it’s 無期懲役. Har! I can be out with my granddaughter and still get ‘how long have you been here?’ and ‘when are you going home?’ **sigh**

By: Ken Seeroi

Ken Seeroi — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:34:59 +0000

It’s pretty hard to respond politely to questions about money. You’d think the people asking would realize they’re putting you in an awkward spot. I’ve gotten those types of questions here too, but they’re relatively rare.

I do get the question “Why are you in Japan?” fairly often, and I find it immensely difficult to formulate a decent reply. Years ago, I could honestly say something simple like, “because I like the food,” but now it’s so much more than that. I mean, it’s just my home, you know? The language, the way people relate to one another, the way of life . . . all that. I’m here because of, well, everything.

Nobody wants an answer like that. Just like from politicians, people want simple sound-bites that they can easily wrap their heads around.

And somehow I always think of that scene with Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, where he screams, “I got nowhere else to go!” That’s not really the case for me, but it’s a pretty good answer anyway. Gotta try that next time.

By: sth orother

sth orother — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 20:29:57 +0000

*ever (groan…)

By: sth orother

sth orother — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 20:29:03 +0000

Perhaps not in Korea, but definitely in China. You also get bonus questions about how much you earn every month, how much you pay for your apartment, and why in god’s name you would every leave your home country (if you come from the West) to come to China.

And don’t try worming your way out of any of the questions or just responding with noncommittal grunts, you will deeply offend the person who is asking you a battery of questions they would never ask another Chinese stranger.

It is the height of hawkward.

Love your blog, instant fan.

By: Ken Seeroi

Ken Seeroi — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 06:33:51 +0000

Well, congratulations on being considered student-age. I think I’ve gotten that maybe once, and even then I’m pretty sure the speaker was just flattering me. I do often get “So are you working in Japan?”, which I find to be a strange question. Like, No I’m just hanging out working on my tan. Of course, I know people are just trying to make light conversation, but even still, you gotta marvel at some of the things they come up with.

By: zoomingjapan

zoomingjapan — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 04:21:29 +0000

As always it was a pleasure to read your post!
As you know I wrote about my experiences, too, and most of them are exactly the same … I guess that’s standard for most foreigners, really!

What you write in your blog post is true and that is both, sad and hilarious – if you think about it.

“Oh, so then you’re married to a Japanese?”
I never ever got that one, I guess Japanese people are well aware of the fact that the number of foreign (Non-Asian) women with a Japanese partner is quite low ….
I do get instead: “No wonder that your Japanese is so great!”

I also get very often: “Are you an exchange student?”
I’m over 30, so hell no, but thanks for thinking I’m either that stupid or that young-looking. I prefer the latter, of course! ^-^;

About the “natto” thing. I actually get that reaction about almost all food that is considered to be unique to Japan. Unagi (eel)? You can eat eel?
Sashimi (raw fish), raw horse meat, squid … anything.

*LOL* Gotta love that card!