this is old but i typed it on my computer without the internets...

Written 7/28/09

You know what I think is so weird? Here in Japan, foreigners (albeit I’m only experienced with white foreigners), are treated with the utmost respect and graciousness. When I buy something at the convenience store, or order at a restaurant, extra attention is paid to me, and extra effort goes into trying to understand my english and muddled japanese.

Just tonight I thought to myself--this isn’t the way it is in the US. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. If a foreigner walks up to pay for something at 7-11, and they cannot understand the clerk, or speak English, the clerk usually becomes irritated, rude, or even downright mean. I cannot see many people, in any sector of service, putting on a brighter smile at the realization that they are about to serve someone who does not speak their language. Encounters with foreigners are normally looked at with disdain and annoyance. It’s hard to imagine someone working at a restaurant saying, “I want to serve the couple that doesn’t speak any English!! Please, let me have that table!!” However, that may be the case here, although perhaps not to that extent. But trust me, foreigners, especially (white) English speakers, are given EXTREME leeway, time, allowed mistakes and misunderstandings. They are also treated automatically with trust, sometimes looked at with awe, and always greeted with a smile. Nothing but the most polite Japanese has been used while addressing me since I’ve been here. I just think the reverse would be the reality in the States, which puzzles and angers me. Why can’t we be happy to see diversity--to experience an intercultural interaction? Some people here bow so deeply to me just because I’m American--would the same be done for a Japanese woman in America? Would she be given special treatment, especially if she did not speak English? Here, my fumbles are endearing and looked at as intelligent; in America, they would be annoying and looked at as ignorant.

Just something I thought about and wanted to get down.