- 15 Mar 2003
- 1,147
- 45
- 58
== The following is from a very interesting and hefty on-line book the author has posted in parts to the "Gaijin in Japan" web forum.
"One of the biggest obstacles I, and the foreigners around me faced while living in Japan was the inability to be recognized as part of the Japanese society. Regardless of how much we studied the language and culture, regardless of how hard we tried to conform to the Japanese way of life, regardless of how well we adhered to Japanese etiquette and manners, regardless of how "Japanese" we became, we were always assigned a position "outside" of the Japanese population.
We were, and always would be, "Gaijin in Japan."
Treated as "gaijin", we longed to be treated with the same decency and respect that Japanese demanded for themselves. We longed to be able to live by "one" set of rules, instead of having to live by a "double" set of rules.
I have come to the conclusion that it is not a deeper immersion into the Japanese language and culture which will allow immersed foreigners to become members of the Japanese society, but the education and realization by the Japanese population that we have actually earned the right to be treated the same as members of the Japanese population."
Dan Venz PhD.
-----------------------
Take a look. While I don't wholeheartedly agree with all of it, it does hit very close to home at times...Enjoy.
http://pub26.ezboard.com/frealdiscussionboardfrm21
"One of the biggest obstacles I, and the foreigners around me faced while living in Japan was the inability to be recognized as part of the Japanese society. Regardless of how much we studied the language and culture, regardless of how hard we tried to conform to the Japanese way of life, regardless of how well we adhered to Japanese etiquette and manners, regardless of how "Japanese" we became, we were always assigned a position "outside" of the Japanese population.
We were, and always would be, "Gaijin in Japan."
Treated as "gaijin", we longed to be treated with the same decency and respect that Japanese demanded for themselves. We longed to be able to live by "one" set of rules, instead of having to live by a "double" set of rules.
I have come to the conclusion that it is not a deeper immersion into the Japanese language and culture which will allow immersed foreigners to become members of the Japanese society, but the education and realization by the Japanese population that we have actually earned the right to be treated the same as members of the Japanese population."
Dan Venz PhD.
-----------------------
Take a look. While I don't wholeheartedly agree with all of it, it does hit very close to home at times...Enjoy.
http://pub26.ezboard.com/frealdiscussionboardfrm21