Nande gaijin!?! a.k.a.This was gonna have to come up sooner or later.
Already tired and grumpy from having to drive all over town and back, I step out of my car in my blue company jacket and drag my butt towards the office door. Standing outside is one of my middle-aged Japanese co-workers "S-san" and his girlfriend of about half his age. I give a small acknowledging smile as I pass him and proceeded to walk up the stairs when all of a sudden out of the girl's mouth I hear, "uuuUUUUh? Nande gaijin?!?..." Without hesitation I whip around, lower my sunglasses and gave her that don't-f-with-me look at the same moment that her eyes got big while covering her mouth AND at the same time S-san quickly told her to quiet down because I understood some Japanese. It all happened rather quickly.
I was already in a bad mood so I kept quiet, turned back around and stomped into the office. I replayed what had just happened to my co-workers and they all said they wished they could have seen me flip around and that I handled it well.
What's all the big fuss you ask? There are two Japanese words that I know of for foreigner. Gaikokujin means foreigner and Gaijin means not only foreigner but outsider. So basically that lady asked, "Huh? Why does a foreigner/outsider work for your company?"
I know I touched on this in one of my recent posts but most foreigners I know can't stand the way Japanese people use the word gaijin. It is used in a racist way yet Japanese people will swear up and down that there is no racism in the country. Even Americans who marry Japanese nationalists and get their permanent visa are still considered gaijin. Japanese offspring of gaijin are considered gaijin even if they were born in Japan and have a Japanese parent and speak perfect Japanese.
It all depends on the context. If you want a great explanation, please go to this link: http://www.debito.org/kumegaijinissue.html debito, or David has been in Japan for years and has a website to help other foreigners who wish to permanently reside in Japan. This article is entitled, " 'Gaijin vs. Gaikokujin' Is Gaijin a Racist Word? I Argue Yes!" He can explain it better than I can and it is a great read.
I was already in a bad mood so I kept quiet, turned back around and stomped into the office. I replayed what had just happened to my co-workers and they all said they wished they could have seen me flip around and that I handled it well.
What's all the big fuss you ask? There are two Japanese words that I know of for foreigner. Gaikokujin means foreigner and Gaijin means not only foreigner but outsider. So basically that lady asked, "Huh? Why does a foreigner/outsider work for your company?"
I know I touched on this in one of my recent posts but most foreigners I know can't stand the way Japanese people use the word gaijin. It is used in a racist way yet Japanese people will swear up and down that there is no racism in the country. Even Americans who marry Japanese nationalists and get their permanent visa are still considered gaijin. Japanese offspring of gaijin are considered gaijin even if they were born in Japan and have a Japanese parent and speak perfect Japanese.
It all depends on the context. If you want a great explanation, please go to this link: http://www.debito.org/kumegaijinissue.html debito, or David has been in Japan for years and has a website to help other foreigners who wish to permanently reside in Japan. This article is entitled, " 'Gaijin vs. Gaikokujin' Is Gaijin a Racist Word? I Argue Yes!" He can explain it better than I can and it is a great read.
Comments
Unka, sensei said, was what children here call poo poo. Cow was "face". So he was caling the fellow shit face in his mind but evidently the fellow thought otherwise.
Sensei always wondered if his phrase caught on :)
Lee
http://www.septemberhouse.net/blogit/?
Lynne