Chris Kern wrote:

> "For a foreigner, even writing hiragana is amazing."
>
> Gee, thanks.
>
> And is it just me, or do some Japanese people have a mental block that
> prevents them from believing that a gaijin can read or write Japanese
> -- even if the ability is shown to them multiple times?

Many, many Japanese people. They may smile, laugh or applaud as a group
if merely given customary greetings.

I would like to know if anyone in other countries would clap and
compliment Japanese if told "Hello" or "Thank you" in their language or
when their skill with a fork is demonstrated.

> It's even funnier when they forget to be surprised for a minute.

It's funniest when people only find out I can understand Japanese or am
not Japanese much, much later. Most of the people in my neighborhood do
not know I am foreign, and I have been here seven years. I have had
people gawk, recoil, scream, apologize, exclaim disbelief, or actually
run away. It's why I use a Japanese name when I can, and use my alien
card for ID in transactions. I want to see their faces.

> I
> was looking at this register of new babies in our town's newsletter,
> and the teacher holding the thing was commenting on a few names that
> she had never seen before.  I commented that one seemed like a good
> choice because of the kanji they used (kokoro and atatakai).  At first
> she started to respond in agreement -- but then suddenly the lightbulb
> went on and she remembered to patronize the gaijin ("sugoi! kanji no
> imi mo wakaru!").  I've had this happen on a few other instances when
> I was asking a question about something --

How long have you been here? It's normal when people find out I am
foreign. The only people who don't seem to care are those with a lot of
exposure to foreigners such as at Immigration or at the airport. I
surprise even local police, every time. And I liked it when the guy at
the licensing center, who only spoke Japanese and had Japanese forms,
said I could fill out the application "in English". I guess he thought I
could speak, understand and read Japanese, but miraculously be too
ignorant to write my own name and address.

> they start to give the
> answer but then remember "oh wait, I can't acknowledge the actual
> reading ability of the gaijin by responding to his question, I have to
> patronize him instead -- that way I can pretend that he doesn't really
> know anything and feel secure in my bubble!"
>
> Today someone said "eego sugoi jouzu desu ne!" -- I thought she was
> joking at first but sadly, she was not.
>
> Then there are all the pathetic "even Japanese people can't read this"
> lines, but that's enough for this post.