Living Abroad in Japan

[Roxalee]

momoeri -

Well I'm from the UK so... it's rude to stare over here.

Ah. Maybe I just find people stare over here too much. I just find they do more then in Canada, and Canada and the UK maybe are taught differently. The parts of Europe I know are a lot more open and stuff, so maybe that's why. Or I'm just wrong, haha.

[momoeri -]

Roxalee

momoeri -

Well I'm from the UK so... it's rude to stare over here.

Ah. Maybe I just find people stare over here too much. I just find they do more then in Canada, and Canada and the UK maybe are taught differently. The parts of Europe I know are a lot more open and stuff, so maybe that's why. Or I'm just wrong, haha.

Yeah, aha. I cannot really speak for other parts, I've never been. I just know here in England, it's usually rude! smile No worries~

[MerronSoda]

Staring is rude here in Germany too. However, there are a few people who stare... and even if you throw them a death gaze they won't stop staring o____o I''ve found people doing it all over Western, Southern and Central Europe...
And... I remember that there were quite a few Japanese who stared at me (probably because I am flashy...)... But they looked away as soon as they noticed that I noticed their staring... And I know there were some Japanese who secretly took a picture of me with their mobiles....

[fayebelly]

MerronSoda

Staring is rude here in Germany too. However, there are a few people who stare... and even if you throw them a death gaze they won't stop staring o____o I''ve found people doing it all over Western, Southern and Central Europe...
And... I remember that there were quite a few Japanese who stared at me (probably because I am flashy...)... But they looked away as soon as they noticed that I noticed their staring... And I know there were some Japanese who secretly took a picture of me with their mobiles....

Ha ha ha! I fell asleep on the train once, wearing a lolita outfit and I was woken up by the sound of some random schoolboy taking a picture of me on his mobile!! XD

[MerronSoda]

fayebelly

Ha ha ha! I fell asleep on the train once, wearing a lolita outfit and I was woken up by the sound of some random schoolboy taking a picture of me on his mobile!! XD

xd Creepy situation.... rofl

One day, when I was waiting for the train, there was a schoolgirl standing about 5 metres away... Suddenly she held up a file in front of her head with her left hand and hid her right hand behind it. She was holding her mobile in her right hand (I could tell by all the straps hanging from behind the file XD ) and slowly moved her hand down so she could take a picture without me noticing (well, I DID notice, of course XD ). She seemed so concentrated on taking a picture that she didn't even noticed I made a V-sign the moment she pressed the shutter xd She seemed a little perplexed when finished though...

[Nickolia Oreadia]

Dude...you guys make me grateful that I'm not flashy...I don't want that much attention. I do get stared at ALL of the time though. It's a bit unnerving. I can be clumsy at times (I'm tall and sometimes I whack my head on older doorways and what not) so it's like I feel this added pressure to not make an idiot of myself. It's like they are waiting for me to do something out of the ordinary...just because I look different.
Also, I work with preschoolers most of the day and sometimes I take them to the park. It's really cute actually because I get them to all hold hands and then I lead them along with the other teacher. When went on a walk to somewhere that would have taken me less than 10 min to walk by myself, but with 8 three-year-olds it took me 25 min. All of these Japanese people where openly staring at the gaijin dragging these adorable Japanese kids around. It's like it was a magic combo - all around the world people feel licensed to stare at cute kids, and then an tall gaijin woman. People even made comments as we passed. >_<;

[fayebelly]

Nickolia Oreadia

Dude...you guys make me grateful that I'm not flashy...I don't want that much attention. I do get stared at ALL of the time though. It's a bit unnerving. I can be clumsy at times (I'm tall and sometimes I whack my head on older doorways and what not) so it's like I feel this added pressure to not make an idiot of myself. It's like they are waiting for me to do something out of the ordinary...just because I look different.
Also, I work with preschoolers most of the day and sometimes I take them to the park. It's really cute actually because I get them to all hold hands and then I lead them along with the other teacher. When went on a walk to somewhere that would have taken me less than 10 min to walk by myself, but with 8 three-year-olds it took me 25 min. All of these Japanese people where openly staring at the gaijin dragging these adorable Japanese kids around. It's like it was a magic combo - all around the world people feel licensed to stare at cute kids, and then an tall gaijin woman. People even made comments as we passed. >_<;

Ahhh, I secretly loved getting stared at... It was like I was a celebrity or something... XD The town I lived in was pretty out of the way so people would quite often come up to me and say "HERRO!", the old women were the best! XD

My homestay mommy took me to her sisters village... Which was basically about 20 houses in the middle of mountains... Seriously! It's the smallest place I've ever seen... Oh god!! The people stared!!!

[Nickolia Oreadia]

Really?!?! I was just in a town that small this weekend. I got some stares too - but I'm getting used to it. I was with my host family, and all their friends came up to me and made random comments.
I don't know why, I just don't like the attention that much. It's basically all about my appearance - one of the kids moms was talking about me with my co-worker the other day. I was there, and understood most of what she was saying - basically she was really impressed with my eyes and nose....even in the US people made comments on my eyes, even sometimes on my nose...(I've never seen anyone with a nose like mine...I have a little square one) but in Japan, it can be unnerving because it's almost like all people notice. I feel like art on display...

[fayebelly]

Nickolia Oreadia

Really?!?! I was just in a town that small this weekend. I got some stares too - but I'm getting used to it. I was with my host family, and all their friends came up to me and made random comments.
I don't know why, I just don't like the attention that much. It's basically all about my appearance - one of the kids moms was talking about me with my co-worker the other day. I was there, and understood most of what she was saying - basically she was really impressed with my eyes and nose....even in the US people made comments on my eyes, even sometimes on my nose...(I've never seen anyone with a nose like mine...I have a little square one) but in Japan, it can be unnerving because it's almost like all people notice. I feel like art on display...

Ha ha ha! My hairdressers were like that... The first time I met them they kept talking about my eyes... And then were really impressed by how thick my hair is (it took them 10 hours to straight perm it, not that I was complaining, they were beautiful).
Also, when I was at work one of the girls said that I had a tiny face... I was like "... Thanks.......?" o,0 I later discovered that it was a compliment! ^^:;

Ahhh... I love Japanese peoples reactions to Westerners! XD

[Nickolia Oreadia]

Ok, so I've been wondering. Are the disembodied legs yours????

And as per the Japanese reactions to westerners. My co-workers are determined to hook me up with a Japanese man by the end of the month...*hangs head* It's a fun game for them I suppose. sweatdrop

[fayebelly]

Nickolia Oreadia

Ok, so I've been wondering. Are the disembodied legs yours????

And as per the Japanese reactions to westerners. My co-workers are determined to hook me up with a Japanese man by the end of the month...*hangs head* It's a fun game for them I suppose. sweatdrop

Those are my legs, yes... ^^:;

But yeah... I remember one night I went out with my homestay mommys friends and there was this old man who kept asking me if I like Japanese men, then asked if I had a boyfriend, when I said no he shouted "WHAT?!" Then he tried to set me up with the poor waiter. While he was beautiful, I was so frigging embarassed, we just kinda looked sheepish at eachother... XD That was a hilarious night...

[MerronSoda]

Nice outfit! 3nodding Do you always wear such clothes or just for special occasions?

I wish it was easy to find a Japanese boyfriend... Well, it actually IS easy if you're not looking for anything serious, or if you're not too choosy, or if you just want to have a Japanese boyfriend for having a Japanese boyfriend (I actually know a lot of western girls who don't care what kind of Japanese guy they're dating, as long as they are dating a Japanese guy.), or if you're simply just as tiny and cute as Japanese girls are (in public). It's difficult if you're tall or just not behaving as cute as Japanese girls (My whole behaviour seemed so un-girly compared to them o___o Although western people wouldn't call me un-girly...).
A Japanese friend (male) of one of my friends (she is quite tall) once described it this way: Japanese girls are kawaii, and western girls are kowai... Reminds of that Japanese guy who wanted to go drinking with me. And when we came across at a friend's house and I sat down next to him on the sofa, he got nervous, endured this nervousness for like 3 minutes - and then suddenly jumped up, went over to a chair, sat down and said to me: "Sitting next to you is scary..."

[fayebelly]

MerronSoda

Nice outfit! 3nodding Do you always wear such clothes or just for special occasions?

I wish it was easy to find a Japanese boyfriend... Well, it actually IS easy if you're not looking for anything serious, or if you're not too choosy, or if you just want to have a Japanese boyfriend for having a Japanese boyfriend (I actually know a lot of western girls who don't care what kind of Japanese guy they're dating, as long as they are dating a Japanese guy.), or if you're simply just as tiny and cute as Japanese girls are (in public). It's difficult if you're tall or just not behaving as cute as Japanese girls (My whole behaviour seemed so un-girly compared to them o___o Although western people wouldn't call me un-girly...).
A Japanese friend (male) of one of my friends (she is quite tall) once described it this way: Japanese girls are kawaii, and western girls are kowai... Reminds of that Japanese guy who wanted to go drinking with me. And when we came across at a friend's house and I sat down next to him on the sofa, he got nervous, endured this nervousness for like 3 minutes - and then suddenly jumped up, went over to a chair, sat down and said to me: "Sitting next to you is scary..."

Thank you. I normally wear that sort of stuff. Not that I get any chances to go out anymore... =/

But I don't think finding a boyfriend is that hard... I think you're right about Western girls not being picky though... =/ And yeah, we are VERY un-girly compared to them!! XD I find that when I speak Japanese I suddenly either become really girly or act like I normally do and use masculine language.
I think Japanese guys find us scary because they're so painfully shy though... That guy you met sounds hilarious! ^^:; Maybe if you go to an international University campus, like Kanda or something, you'll find some guys who understand Western girls better. I knew quite a few guys from Kanda and they had no problems with Westerners, one friend would even cuddle me and hold my hand, even though we never dated... o,o

[Nickolia Oreadia]

Ha, I am tall, but I've seen some Japanese men my height - it doesn't really matter though because I didn't come to Japan with the intention to date. It's not that I don't find some (a very very few) Japanese men attractive - I just don't find the behavior of Japanese men attractive - actually, sometimes Japanese men my age really annoy me! Anyways, when it comes down to it, I just don't want to date anyone (Japanese, Western, Whatever)

Also, today I was exploring my town and walking down the old 'main' street of the city. I had lots of interesting shops and lots of odd art on display. So I was walking down the road snapping photos when this older man on a bike passes me. I did my normal thing when we made eye-contact and smiled. While I was snapping a photo I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was off of his bike standing behind me. I took out my ear buds only to hear him saying something in Japanese I didn't understand...I apologized telling him I didn't understand - he asked a few more times and then eventually I started to walk away. I memorized the phrase he kept repeating and then told my boss when I got home (I live where I work) what happened. She got this shocked look on her face and told me that he had been asking me to 'play,' so basically he thought that I was going to sell myself out to him or something...how humiliating. Sometimes I thank God i don't understand Japanese....

[MerronSoda]

Older men are especially suspicious to me... I've experienced situations like yours a few times too... I wished I couldn't understand Japanese back then (but I did, and being asked for an enjokousai(juvenile prostitution) relationship isn't really encouraging...) On the other hand I loved how shocked they were when I told them in Japanese to leave me alone.
But there also were some really nice older men who just wanted to know where I was from and such things.

@fayebelly: whee Your friend is cute~^^ I've got one friend who was always acting really cool in public, but his mails were always full of cute emoticons and hearts XD That was so lovely~
There actually was (and still is) one Japanese guy I really liked very, very, very, very much. Unfortunately I met him at a quite late point of my exchange o____o So one day I met him and some friends in Tokyo and we were talking and kidding around the whole afternoon. When they had to leave one of his friends whispered something in his ear while looking in my direction... And then he walked towards me with an uttermost determined look on his face... And when he was only 1 metre away the look on his face suddenly changed and he just whispered "baibai" - and jumped in a car crying His friend was quite baffled too...