Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!ccsf.homeunix.org!news1.wakwak.com!nf1.xephion.ne.jp!onion.ish.org!onodera-news!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!hammer.uoregon.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!pln-e!spln!dex!extra.newsguy.com!newsp.newsguy.com!drn From: Brett Robson Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan Subject: Re: Japan Times letters Date: 5 Aug 2003 21:04:38 -0700 Organization: Newsguy News Service [http://newsguy.com] Lines: 36 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: p-905.newsdawg.com X-Newsreader: Direct Read News 4.20 Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:4032 On Wed, 6 Aug 2003 10:24:15 +0900, Dave Fossett ... > >Has anyone else read the readers' letters in today's Japan Times? I am just >having trouble trying to work out what the first one (Discrimination starts >with 'you') is trying to say, despite the fact that it was apparently >written by a native English speaker. It seems to boil down to "Japanese use >different levels of politeness so it is not surprising that they >discriminate against foreigners", which really doesn't make much sense to >me. > >http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ric.htm > Hard to work out what he's on about. Perhaps he feels offended if people speak simply to him? We can only guess, but how common is this? Recently I chewed out the manager of a local coffee shop about his and his staffs' poor manners after a guy serverd me without saying a single word. His defence was the staff don't speak English, but I pointed out that any foreigner in Japan understands "arigatou gozaimasu". - "Wherever you go, you carry a message of hope - a message that is ancient and ever new. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, 'To the captives, come out, and to those in darkness, be free."' Bush II exhorting his soldiers on their Crusades. "light the darkness of the entire world" Kita Ikki