Hallvard Tangeraas <inv@lid.email> wrote:
> Are foreigners generally treated differently and/or badly than their
> Japanese co-workers?

Hello,

one of the most interesting things one can learn in Japan is that "every
situation is different". Much of what one hears about the situation of
"foreigners" in Japan seems to me the result of too much navel gazing on
part of those "foreigners". When i think of Ryan or Declan, the last
thing that comes to mind is "foreign", and i don't think the people they
associate with spend much time thinking about it either. Once you are
familiar with the reality you live in and have made it your own - and
part of that is to make the language your own - then you are obviously
no longer foreign, and what should it matter what some (other) people
think or write about that?

Whatever it is that makes you think you want to go to Japan, i'd say
just go - the worst you can end up with is being richer in experience.
And should you find you had some illusions and end up being stripped of
them, you can safely think of that as something positive. (By the way,
do you know the book "Sophie's World?" Its author is from your country,
but the book can be had in many languages. It's an enjoyable book, i'd
say, and it deals with very sophisticated illusions.)

By the way, in my case the reason for going to Japan was that i wanted
to understand how the particles work in the language, and how they
relate to the concept of "case" (dative, accusative, and so on), and i
figured that the best way to understand that would be to learn the
language, and the best way to do that would be to learn it in the
country where it is commonly used. I figured one or two years should do
to learn what i needed to know. It's almost 7 years later, and the
reason why i am still In the country (nominally) is an entirely
different one - it has to do with my childhood dream of being a musician
and with my falling in love with Okinawan folk music some 5 years ago.
Go figure...

Regards: Hendrik (call me Al)

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