okay...bad joke.
A few days ago I was having a drink at a local watering hole with some friends of the aforementioned nationalities. The four of us sat around talking about our travels and I couldn't help but notice that we were in Japan yet our entire conversation was in English. As the only native English speaker I was loving it. I didn't have to apologize for any mispronunciations or be embarrassed for using a word in the wrong context. I could sit back and humbly correct my friends' English when they asked. Then I started to feel guilty. I was sitting with three people who could speak at least two languages fluently and all I could do was ramble on in English, mumble a few phrases in Spanglish (despite 4 years of Spanish language education), and ask for a beer in Japanese (and maybe a few more phrases). Here I was all the way across the world, in a country I barely knew, and everyone was accommodating me. As a native English speaker I have to say...we've got it made.
Unfortunately, this makes me incredibly lazy. I really haven't had any problems getting around in Japan. Sure, I've felt embarrassed for not knowing the language but I've always been able to get what I need (the power of pointing is a magical thing). I told my Japanese co-worker about some of the embarrassing encounters I've had while attempting to speak Japanese around town. She shook her head with disappointment and simply said, "more Japanese people should speak English". I couldn't believe it. Here I was, a foreigner in another country, and a Japanese person was making excuses for me. I corrected her and said it was the the other way around, I should get off my ass, pick up a book, join a class or something. The funny thing is I know that at home, in America, many foreigners are harshly criticized for not knowing English. I'm sure my attitude would change greatly if I received anything other than a smile towards my humiliating attempts to speak Japanese but I can't imagine how awful that would make me feel.
I guess I'm lucky that American influence is (generally) appreciated in Japan. American movies, TV shows, and music is everywhere. As a result, being a native English speaker (who knows only a handful of Japanese) doesn't hold much of a stigma...but I can't say this fact is really helping me acclimate to this new country. Then again, I'm a pasty blond girl...how much can I really fit it?
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