mtfester@netMAPSONscape.net totally sneezed all over fj.life.in-japan with a
withering cloud of snot:

>CL <flothru@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Kevin Wayne Williams wrote:
>> > The 2-Belo wrote:
>> >> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080222/ap_on_re_as/japan_us_military_1
>> >>
>> >> "The U.S. this week imposed tight new restrictions on troops, their 
>> >> families and
>> >> *civilian expatriates* [emphasis mine] in Okinawa and *elsewhere* 
>> >> [emphasis
>> >> mine], limiting them to bases, workplaces and off-base housing. The 
>> >> military
>> >> held a 'day of reflection' Friday to urge troops not to commit crimes."
>> >>
>> > It's not clear in the article if these restrictions are temporary or 
>> > permanent. If they're permanent, I feel sorry for everyone involved. 
>> > Pretty boring being restricted to base.
>
>> If you've never been in the military, the difference between being 
>> restricted and unrestricted is that you get to be bored in English. 
>> Otherwise, there isn't a whole lot of difference.
>
>One thing I've never understood about the troops stationed overseas; why
>don't they require foreign language lessons for them? An hour or so a
>day, and at least you can make yourself understood after a few months.
>
>I've lost count of the number of people I've met who were stationed in 
>Japan but can't even speak the most rudimentary Japanese.

I have precisely zero contact with the US military, so I can't speak for them,
but I've met enough civilians who fit this description to say that this
phenomenon is universal. And it has many causes, among them apathy and the
environment they're in: If you don't need to speak the native language to get by
day to day, then you likely won't. Many furriners live in enclosed communities
amongst their own kind, or marry locals who can speak English anyway, and
therefore never need to learn.

I've known people who have lived here for a decade or more, and can't speak one
lousy word, for the above reasons.


-- 
The 2-Belo [the2beloATmsdDOTbiglobeDOTneDOTjp]
Emperor, Meow (Retired, on generous military pension)
afk-mn WebCenter: http://www.godhatesjanks.org/webcenter/
auk: Hammer of Thor by Special Decree 1999
(Upgraded to Diamond in 2005)
aavf3: mhm21x20

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