Ex-pats in Japan.......your opinion please

JET STREAM

FITTING IN
Living like a local

By EVERETT KENNEDY BROWN

Murdo Maclean is no longer shy about wearing a loincloth and jumping into ice-cold rivers. In fact, it has become an annual event for the red-haired Scot, who has just finished his second year as a coordinator for international relations (CIR) in the town of Ogata, Oita Prefecture.

Murdo Maclean (center) and fellow performers drum it out in front of Harajiri Falls in Ogata with two local Kagura performers.

Every November, dozens of townsmen wearing loincloths carry mikoshi (portable Shinto shrines) across the frigid river in a ceremony dating back nearly 800 years. Maclean is believed to be the first foreigner to have participated in the event.

"To be asked to participate in the Kawagoshi Festival has been a great privilege," says Maclean. "People here have welcomed me into their lives in a special way."

Ogata takes pride in its vibrant cultural heritage and scenic beauty. This is reflected in the town's lively celebration of local festivals and also in the care taken by residents to preserve the traditional farmhouses and picturesque old irrigation canals that carry pure water from the surrounding mountains to the rice fields.

Maclean is not the first CIR to be captivated by the beauty of Ogata. In fact, the two former CIRs who worked there were so enamored of the town they decided to settle in the area.

American Julie Hadano married an Ogata man and is now a mother of two. "I found a deep and supportive community spirit here," she says. "The attitude of the people is very warm and positive."

Despite being well prepared, Maclean experienced culture shock when he arrived in Ogata in the summer of 2000. As a Japanese-language and marketing major at the University of Stirling's Scottish Centre for Japanese Studies, his language skills enabled him to read Japanese newspapers and to debate on difficult topics. But he was not prepared for the local dialect.

"At university I debated in standard Japanese on scientific and political issues," says Maclean. "But when I arrived in Ogata, I asked myself, 'Is this really Japanese?' Being able to talk about genetics didn't get me too far with the local grandpas."

As a coordinator for international relations, Maclean's work involved teaching English at the town's elementary schools several times a week. It was also an opportunity for him to share his Scottish heritage with the community. Walking into the classrooms dressed in a kilt of his clan's tartan and teaching traditional Scottish dances and games made Maclean popular with the local children.

"For a country town, I was surprised to find everyone so naturally open and friendly," Maclean remarks. "Especially the children. Every time we met they gave me so much energy."

When Maclean discovered that the thistle, the national flower of Scotland, grew wild in the mountains around Ogata, he developed an even stronger sense of affinity with the town and its people. Last summer he escorted groups of townspeople to Scotland where they experienced home stays and joined Maclean's friends and family in traditional Scottish feasts.

At the city office, Maclean's duties included helping to promote local festivals and cultural events. He wrote a monthly column in Japanese for the local magazine and introduced town events on regional radio talk shows. In his free time, he joined a local taiko drumming group and began participating in festival events. Working, living and playing side by side with Ogata residents allowed him to quickly develop an ear for the local dialect and find a place for himself within the community.

"The mutual respect that people here have for each other is something I rarely experienced back in England," Maclean mentions. "Here I have not been treated as a foreigner. Everyone is easygoing and we can share normal conversations together."

Maclean first became interested in learning Japanese as a student at Fettes College, a boarding school near Edinburgh. Several of his classmates were Japanese, and he was intrigued by their electronic gadgets, manga and video games.

"Those guys were real colorful and outgoing people," Maclean comments. "Not like the typical image I had of Japanese as being shy and reserved."

When his new friends spoke Japanese together, Maclean was inspired to learn the language so that he, too, could one day join in their lively conversations. During his university studies, Maclean spent a semester at Kobe University.

It was an opportunity to meet up with some of his Japanese school friends who had returned home.

"They were surprised to hear me speaking Japanese," Maclean recalls. "One of them said: 'Now I realize that you are not any different from me.' I told him, 'I always knew that. Now that I speak Japanese you realize that, too.' "

Maclean will soon return to Scotland to help take care of his ailing father. Before leaving Japan, Maclean talked with his co-workers at Ogata town office about his two-year experience.

"I remarked on how meaningful it had been for me to have participated in the Kawagoshi Festival," Maclean says. "And my boss commented: 'You are welcome to come back anytime you can and join us.'

"Hearing those words touched me deeply," Maclean says. "And I'm sure someday I will return to Ogata machi."

The Japan Times: Aug. 23, 2002
(C) All rights reserved

[Jeff Hamacher]

obviously, this fellow had a lot going for him before he arrived in japan (language skills, previous experience) and he also lucked out with his living environment, or so it would seem. i get the impression that the article is eager to point to all the ways in which he successfully integrated himself into his community and avoids too lengthy a discussion of his culture shock.

i've slowly come to the conclusion after six years of living here that you can learn as much as you like about this country, its language, and its culture, but unless you have a very flexible personality and relative lack of ego, life here can be more frustrating than rewarding sometimes. my example is a poor one to follow: i've worked hard at learning the language, martial arts, and tea ceremony, as well as respecting various social customs, but i'm too hard-headed and opinionated to settle in completely, i.e. to the satisfaction of japanese people around me. at this stage, i'm also pretty sick of subtle discrimination (mostly in the way that some japanese speak to me).

it's my own damn fault, but the accumulation of insulting experiences has made me a little hair-trigger so that i end up insulting other people who don't even deserve my crap. i applaud ex-pats here who are stronger or more easy-going than me and can just slide through the challenges of japanese living ... perhaps i'll learn to get over myself just like them some day!:)

[stewart73]

It also has a lot to do with where you live in Japan, as the above gentleman mentioned, how much Japanese you know. If he had move to
Tokyo he may not have even been noticed! :) Foreigners are obviously more of an oddity in the countryside and are treated accordingly (I should say favorably in most cases).

[Exorcist_Fist]

The mutual respect that people here have for each other is something I rarely experienced

Funny, I haver rarely experienced that too...

Being a little bit nuts helps too. Wild Thistle grows in a lot of places. I think the guy was just desperate to make a connection.

So let me ask this...........Do you think gaijin that tend to "get along" with Japanese better and "get into" Japanese culture more are considered odd by their fellow countrymen?


How long after you arrive do you think the "honeymoon period" finishes. (Ball Park figure).
For me it was 2 years.

[Zoyashi]

I think it depends on how long you're planning to be in Japan. I figured I'd be there for two years, and after one year, the honeymoon was over. Friends who were only there one year lost their honeymoon much sooner. Maybe it's reverse causality...
Josh Gepner

[Exorcist_Fist]

My honeymoon period ended in about 1 day this time around. Last time it was about 4 months.

As for gaijin who get along better with Japanese, I put them in the same group with Americans who go to London and suddenly start talking like they are Hugh Grant or something, even when they are back in Nebraska.

When I referred to "get along" with the Japanese I was talking about those gaijin that have what I call the "Marco Polo Syndrome", the ones that think they were the first to discover Japan and don't feel the need to associate with the rest of the round-eye population because they think they have actually become Japanese somehow. I met several while I was in China as well, they were the foreigners that used to wear the Chairman Mao suits and kung fu slippers everywhere.

To discover another culture and understand it is obviously good. However getting lost in another culture to escape your own I think is kind of odd and possible unhealthy.
Their are many Japanese I respect and get along with just as I would in my own country, and there are also Japanese that I think are kind of backward just as in my own country.


I think the guy in the article, while undoubtedly made some good relationships my want to consider the concept of "tatemae" a bit more.

[Cady Goldfield]

There is a charming book, published by the Vintage Press, called "The Road Through Miyama." The first printing was in 1991. I don't know whether it's still in print, but it was part of a series of travel/overseas living books called "Vintage Departures."

The author, Leila Philip, was a young woman in 1983 when she traveled to the southernmost part of Japan and asked to become a potter's apprentice. She was taken in by a master potter and his wife, and spent two years in the village, learning the craft and also getting to know the rural village's residents. She ends up working in the rice paddies with them, and wending her way into their daily lives just by her being a life in the village.

When she leaves, some of the residents want to know why, and when she says that she needs to go back to her own country, they tell her that they had forgotten that she was a foreigner... to the point of not noticing her blonde hair and blue eyes anymore.

While the 400-year-old village began as a Korean potters' colony (Japan kidnapped Korean potters back then and brought them back to Japan to make their coveted pottery and celadon glaze), over the centuries it apparently became a Japanese town, and I wonder whether any descendents of the original 70 Koreans must remain. If so, it would point to a very tolerant population -- able to blend not only with Koreans, but with Westerners and to accept them into their lives. Not typical of what we hear about the flaming racists.

As was mentioned earlier, despite the provincialism often encountered in rural areas, because denizens of small villages are so interdependent (unlike city dwellers), perhaps they are more likely to accept a person for who he or she is as a human being of worth, once the novelty of unfamiliar physical features has worn off.

[Jeff Hamacher]

Originally posted by Robert Rousselot
> So let me ask this ... Do you think gaijin that tend to "get along" with Japanese better and "get into" Japanese culture more are considered odd by their fellow countrymen? <

i've been guilty of sitting in judgement on other ex-pats for "not understanding japanese society well enough" or "being insensitive to the 'japanese way' of doing things", even if i never said anything out loud to those people. thankfully, i've gotten past my minor "Marco Polo" phase for the most part, but it's also meant taking a harder look at all the things that i don't do well in relating to others, both japanese and non-japanese.

on the other hand, i've seen plenty of examples of the opposite extreme: ex-pats who virtually never try to settle into their local community and hang out only with fellow ex-pats. most often this has been members of the JET community to which i used to belong, although as i mentioned upthread, there is the SuperJET breed that is more japanese than the japanese themselves ... or so it would seem.

the Daily Yomiuri has been carrying a series of stories about ex-pats doing various traditional japanese jobs or arts, including the american woman who practically saved a sake brewery here in Nagano from economic ruin. it was very interesting to note that she tried doing things the "japanese way", but after countless rejections from her brewery supervisors she literally took a sledgehammer to the problem to get their attention. as younger japanese fail to sustain traditional cultural practices, the task is getting left to foreigners who actually care enough to take it up.

i have a good article on ex-pat living and culture shock wherein the author argues that no ex-pat ever becomes a full and true member of their adopted country. it may not be the absolute truth in all situations, but i think she makes a good point. i mean, i wear kimono sometimes on special occasions (tea ceremonies, New Year's temple visits, etc.) because i like to, but that doesn't mean i'm trying to convince either myself or the world of my "japaneseness".

> How long after you arrive do you think the "honeymoon period" finishes. (Ball Park figure). For me it was 2 years. <

i had my first big culture shock crash about 3 months after i arrived, and i'd say that's when my honeymoon ended. having said that, i've also ended up on the classic Seidensticker Syndrome rollercoaster (the love-hate relationship with japan that oscillates every 5 minutes or so); i've hit some real highs in my romance with japan since that first crash. after a little more than 6 years now, i'm basically very tired, mentally and emotionally. i want to come back to japan someday to pick up where i'm going to leave off next spring, but i need a breather.

Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
Originally posted by Robert Rousselot
> So let me ask this ... Do you think gaijin that tend to "get along" with Japanese better and "get into" Japanese culture more are considered odd by their fellow countrymen? <


Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
i've been guilty of sitting in judgement on other ex-pats for "not understanding japanese society well enough" or "being insensitive to the 'japanese way' of doing things", even if i never said anything out loud to those people. thankfully, i've gotten past my minor "Marco Polo" phase for the most part, but it's also meant taking a harder look at all the things that i don't do well in relating to others, both japanese and non-japanese.

I met you on the 4th of July and thought you were hell of a nice guy.

Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
on the other hand, i've seen plenty of examples of the opposite extreme: ex-pats who virtually never try to settle into their local community and hang out only with fellow ex-pats. most often this has been members of the JET community to which i used to belong, although as i mentioned upthread, there is the SuperJET breed that is more japanese than the japanese themselves ... or so it would seem.

Yes I know what you mean. This is the other side of the coin. I know people that are in the US military here and hardly ever leave the base the whole time they are in Japan. I also know some ex-pats that never go anywhere except the FCC and the Tokyo American Club and think Roppongi is the "REAL" Japan. You would think after traveling all this way they might at least try to have a look around.

Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
the Daily Yomiuri has been carrying a series of stories about ex-pats doing various traditional japanese jobs or arts, including the american woman who practically saved a sake brewery here in Nagano from economic ruin. it was very interesting to note that she tried doing things the "japanese way", but after countless rejections from her brewery supervisors she literally took a sledgehammer to the problem to get their attention.

I read about her. She seems pretty sharp, got an MBA or something from Stanfford (?),


Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
as younger japanese fail to sustain traditional cultural practices, the task is getting left to foreigners who actually care enough to take it up.

Kinda like MA training here too.............



Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
i have a good article on ex-pat living and culture shock wherein the author argues that no ex-pat ever becomes a full and true member of their adopted country. it may not be the absolute truth in all situations, but i think she makes a good point. i mean, i wear kimono sometimes on special occasions (tea ceremonies, New Year's temple visits, etc.) because i like to, but that doesn't mean i'm trying to convince either myself or the world of my "japaneseness".

You would wear a Tux to a wedding if you were the groom right?.............same thing isn't it............I think certain events call for certain "uniforms" in Japan.

Originally posted by Jeff Hamacher
i had my first big culture shock crash about 3 months after i arrived, and i'd say that's when my honeymoon ended. having said that, i've also ended up on the classic Seidensticker Syndrome rollercoaster (the love-hate relationship with japan that oscillates every 5 minutes or so); i've hit some real highs in my romance with japan since that first crash. after a little more than 6 years now, i'm basically very tired, mentally and emotionally. i want to come back to japan someday to pick up where i'm going to leave off next spring, but i need a breather.


I have had the same thing happen. I went home for several months in '97 after 10 years I had decided enough and went home for a break.

[ghp]

Chimera hao!

I have this terrible image burned into my mind:

"Yon brae muckle Hielanman wi his wee tartan fundoshi "plaidie" aboot the size o' his sporran!!! :laugh:! Och Jimmy! Yin firth is sae cold, ah cannae bide here nae langer! Nae deoch an douris, nae haggis, nae ceolmor, nae proper uisquebeha, nae naethin! Ahm gannin hame frae yon Talisker!"

Wha's like us?
Damn feu ...
An they're a'deid!

Anyone care to attempt a PhotoShop manipulation of him wearing a tartan fundoshi??

Slan le'
Guy

[ghp]

the american woman who practically saved a sake brewery here in Nagano from economic ruin

And it didn't hurt that not only does she speak most excellent Japanese ... but she's beautiful and blonde!!

You guys know what I mean.

"Guy"-jin

Originally posted by ghp


And it didn't hurt that not only does she speak most excellent Japanese ... but she's beautiful and blonde!!

You guys know what I mean.

"Guy"-jin

That's right she was a pretty nice piece of "eye-candy" wasn't she. What I liked about it is that the Sake Industry is a "man's world" with all the macho BS that goes with it as well as being very traditonal Japanese, something we gainjin can never understand,:rolleyes: and it was saved by a WOMAN! And a Gaijin at that! Hahahahaha...........gotta love the irony.

[Exorcist_Fist]

I think my point was that I went through exactly the same reactions to living in Japan as I did while living in Germany and Austria. In many ways, it was harder living in europe because I kept expecting things to be "semi-normal". Heck, in some ways, Japan is much more like America than Vienna was.

[Exorcist_Fist]

past the editing limit. I want to add this.

Its funny how Japan is one of the few countries I have been in where we "sit in judgement of ex-pats". I am sure it happens in other asian nations, as well, but I doubt it happens quite so often in Africa, Europe (positive), or South America.

I personally came here with one and only one goal. Get paid, and let my baby have medical care. If I fit in, or dont, go to a tea ceremony, or dont...

Well, frankly, I could care less. I lived in san francisco for 6 years, and never went to alcatraz. I lived in Washington DC for 5 and went to the smithsonian once by accident. I lived 40 minutes outside of New York for 18 years, and never went to the statue of liberty or a Yankees game.

That being said, when I was 18 I ran with the bulls in Pamplona. Because I wanted to.

I dont think it really matters.

[gmellis]

OK, Let me get this straight, I'm a little slow on the uptake. This Scottish guy started studying Japanese officially from college like I did (maybe armchair studied in high school), and within the span of his college career was having debates on genetics??!! Am I missing something here? I am a full-time translator here in Tokyo. I translate all sorts of crap from lame annual reports to scientific product releases, blah blah blah. I read both the Japanese and English editions of Scientific American, the newspapers of course, have lived here over 5 years, and despite my scientifc vocabulary, THERE IS NO %#$ING WAY I COULD DEBATE ABOUT GENETICS!!!! I don't think there are many college students in the country that could either. I would LOVE to see the curriculum for the classes this guy took. Help me out here!
As for the expat experience. Count me as one of the burned out and charred to a crisp. Life is too short to waste fruitless hours of my limited life battling uphill for a scrap of bread every day, or having people walk two cars down searching for a seat or sweeze in between two fat college rugby students across from you rather than take the spacious spot next to you ("I mean, what if he suddenly started babbling to me in English asking for his stop??!! What would I say??!!"). I am naturally plotting the trajectory and speed of my family's escape pod from this barren planet. Life is indeed too short, and I have accelerated by aging at a ratio of 2:1 years since I've arrived, so I have to make up for that time even more than others.

Do you think gaijin that tend to "get along" with Japanese better and "get into" Japanese culture more are considered odd by their fellow countrymen? YES. But qualify that answer. I have met a good number of foreigners here who are fluent, know oogles about the culture and have healthy relationships, but they don'T go out of their way to avoid foreigners or making friends with them. Let's face it, there are an awful lot of colorful, fun and intriguing foreigners doing all sorts of interesting things around here. I wish I could meet more of them. But we all know the ones Robert is alluding to (sufferers of the "Marco Polo Syndrome"). They would probably be candidates for weird cults if they stayed back in their home countries given that they are usually: 1) Partially or totally socially inept back home, borderline complete and absolute dorks, 2) lack a huge chunk of self-esteem and urgently seek acceptance by people here and 3) have an extreme urge to be different and unique to make up for their blandness back home. C'mon, I occasionally wear my samue around near my neighborhood (As a side note, the samue is probably one of the most exquisite comfortable articles of clothing designed by man), and all that. But those of us in this forum know the ones I'm talking about, the ones like look on the verge of a mental breakdown from trying to hold it all together or who collect weird articles of clothing (wink wink nudge nudge).

Does location affect one's experience? YES. If you want to accelerate your Japanese skills and meet friendly people, DON'T LIVE IN TOKYO. Unless you get around an awful lot and can weed out that 10% of the population (often retired) that don't scowl at you. Even in my own office, everyone knows I am a translator, have lived here a while and have almost as large a vocabulary as they do in certain fields, but I still have to wrestle them to the ground and choke them out to use my Japanese. Stay away from Tokyo. Live far far in the country with all the old people who could give a rat's ass about using you as a kaiwa parrot. Then your skills will really take off. Also, if possible, try to find a job that doesn not involve English in anyway (translating, English teacher, etc). The pay is less and those kinds of jobs are sparse, but you would REALLY get the immersion that way. Otherwise you'll have to get on your Nihongo Dogi and wrestle those around you like I have to do. It makes for ackward social relations.

If I sound bitter and worn out, it is becuase I am. The number of countries in which one has to battle daily to use the local language one could probably count on on hand. We expats improve in the language DESPITE the lack of aids and surrounding support not BECAUSE of them (The 10 or 11 rows of English textbooks for Japanese people to our 2 or 3 bookshelves, the fact that they go to America and no one speaks their language nor wants to, whereas we...well, you know, etc etc.). Sorry if all this is of topic. I saw shot and I took it. End of story. Game over maaaaan. Hehe. What was the topic of this post again??

(sorry don't know your name),

I thought what you said was "spot on".

I also wondered about his claim of being able to debate in Japanese.........seemed a bit odd, but then again who did he debate? Other gaijin with egually bad Japanese? At what level did they debate?

Seems like he "expanded the truth" on that one a bit.

[gmellis]

I distinctly remember hitting that "show signature" button. Grrrr:mad:

Yep I see it now.
Didn't show up for some reason last time.

I think we have met before.
You study katori Shinto right?

[Daruma]

Murdo Maclean?

Sounds like he's from somewhere like Fife or Dundee or even worse Aberdeen!

No way would anyone in their right mind called their child Murdo if they lived in Glasgow. Anyway i don't really mind, my experiences with Japan have been mostly positive, most of the Japanese I have met have been friendly and willing to accomodate my lack of knowledge about things Japanese.

Sure there has been some narrow minded scumbags but I am sure we would find them everywhere, Racism or bigotry is'nt a solely Japanese Concept, the Japanese have only managed to make it institutionalised. I remember reading someone say "the Japanese have taken Politeness so far as to be totally indistinguishable from Rudeness".

I would say that I have met some Gaijin who were complete scumbags though, Most of my negative experiences here have been caused by Gaijin, through lack of regard for other people or just contemptible behaviour, see what nine months sentence to working in Roppongi can do to you?

I have'nt travelled very much yet, but as i am going to be here for sometime I will make sure i do. I got a trip to Kyoto coming up in November though. it would be waste, to go back and be asked so how was japan what did you see? " oh i saw Tokyo Tower... every damn day "

And don't even ask about my language skills......

I guess this guy struck it lucky, I am unsure about his language skills though, Stirling University is'nt really that big, and most of the guys i met who studied Japanese at Uni came away with the usual Too formal style that you get elsewere, have yet to meet one who could debate about Genetics - Like who do you practice with and well the practicality of it in the bar - Hi, so what do you know about DNA and the Human Genome?" Nice chat up line I am sure...

Maybe the guy was just lucky, or maybe the only tihng he can converse about is Genetics....

oh yeah and please don't do that pseudo Robert Burns stuff Guy it is quite disturbing...



"Yon brae muckle Hielanman wi his wee tartan fundoshi "plaidie" aboot the size o' his sporran!!! ! Och Jimmy! Yin firth is sae cold, ah cannae bide here nae langer! Nae deoch an douris, nae haggis, nae ceolmor, nae proper uisquebeha, nae naethin! Ahm gannin hame frae yon Talisker!"


"The brave, Highland man with his small Tartan Fundoshi about the size of his Sporran. Oh James, The river is so cold I can't stay here any longer! No Deoch and Douris(Burns poem - about drinking whiskly and singing), No Haggis(Sheeps stomach stuffed with minced lamb, oats and spices), No Ceolmor(big music - usually classics on the bagpipes), No proper Uisqubeadh(Whisky), No nothing! (nice double Negative extremely Scots)I am going home for some Talisker!"

Slain-te`

[Jeff Hamacher]

Robert,

thanks for the kind words upthread. trust me, though, i'm not beating myself up too badly over my shortcomings!:D the bombshell at the sake brewery really does seem to have it all: looks, smarts, and the killer nickname of Typhoon Musume, courtesy of her coworkers.

Greg,

i've participated in a formal debate in japanese before, but the topic (Resolution: Japan should adopt daylight savings time in summer.) and rules were tilted in favour of the participants, all non-native speakers. we worked in pairs, we were given nearly a month to put together research for pro and con sides (we had to take both during the two preliminary rounds), and we were even allowed to have a native japanese speaker in our group to help out. not surprisingly, the winning team had not only a japanese helper (no other team chose to invite one) but also enlisted the aid of a separate japanese friend to do internet research. i have to admit that their debate skills were very good and they deserved to win on that basis alone, but i think it demonstrates that "the Scot with experience debating genetics" line sounds more impressive than the probable reality of that experience.

my experience in the "countryside" of Nagano is that the more you improve in japanese, the higher the bar gets set by people who listen to you. it's a great challenge, but it's also frustrating when people start to feel let down that your japanese isn't as perfect as they expect it to be.

[gmellis]

Robert,
Yea, I do KSR with the Otakenator. When you say met, do you mean in person?? I don't meet many fellow budo/ex-paddies around here, so I'm sure I would remember you. It wasn't in a pub after like my fourth pint or anything was it. I take back everything I may have said, unless it's true. :D Whereabouts do you live? I'm an Itabashi-er (near ikebukuro), although I work in Harajuku, where I am forced to commute being sandwiched by 20 year-olds wearing skin tight, sparse outfits. So unpleasant. I must put in for a trsnafer to work with the oyaji's in Jimbocho or somewhere.


Andrew,
That is some wicked Tagalog you speak bro'! Know any places around here to get some decent haggis and a skir....er, kilt? By the way, not being from Scotland myself, is listening to the Scotman's Song for you like listening to the Carpenters for an American like me. I kinda like it, but....:

Well, a Scotsman clad in kilt once left a bar one evening fair,
And one could tell by how he walked that he'd drunk more than his share.
He fumbled 'round until he could no longer keep his feet.
Then he stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street.
About that time two young and lovely girls just happened by.
One said to the other with a twinkle in her eye.
See yon bonnie Scotsman so fine and handsome built.
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath the kilt.
They crept up on that sleeping Scotsman quiet as could be,
Lifted up his kilt about an inch so they could see.
And there behold for them to view beneath his Scottish skirt,
Was nothing more than God had graced him with upon his birth.
They marveled for a moment and then said we must be gone.
Let's leave a present for our friend before we move along.
As a gift they left a blue silk ribbon tied into a bow,
Around the bonnie star the Scot's kilt did lift and show.
Now the Scotsman woke to nature's call and stumbled toward the trees.
Behind the bush he lifts his kilt and gawks at what he sees.
And in a startled voice he says to what's before his eyes,
Oh! lad I don't know where you've been but I see you won first prize.

Originally posted by gmellis
Robert,
Yea, I do KSR with the Otakenator. When you say met, do you mean in person?? I don't meet many fellow budo/ex-paddies around here, so I'm sure I would remember you. It wasn't in a pub after like my fourth pint or anything was it. I take back everything I may have said, unless it's true. :D Whereabouts do you live? I'm an Itabashi-er (near ikebukuro), although I work in Harajuku, where I am forced to commute being sandwiched by 20 year-olds wearing skin tight, sparse outfits. So unpleasant. I must put in for a trsnafer to work with the oyaji's in Jimbocho or somewhere.

I think we met at the Dubliner in Shinjuku one night.
If we haven't met then we should hook up in the future anyway.
Years ago I studied very briefly under Mr. Sugino in Kawasaki.
Do you go all the way out to Chiba to train?
I have met Mr. Otake on several occasions, he is a real Gentleman and very nice.
Not to mention his sword technique is white hot and smokin'.
I like Mr. Otake's ideas about Samurai and their culture.........really enlightening stuff.

[Daruma]

As to Haggis, well i can make it maybe have some for St Andrews Day Or Robert Burns the Japan Scotland Society usually has an event.

As to getting a Kilt here well I dunno, I had three at one point, but never thought to bring one with me, shame really their very comfortable for hot weather, though I dunno how the Japanese guys would react to seeing it at the Dojo, might be difficult to explain with my half-assed Nihongo.

I'll bring one over next time I go back Home.

[ghp]

Hey Andrew!!

I lived at Ardvasar on Sleat -- just across the sound from Malaig "frae aboot sex months"! Gie us some slack, Jimmy (okay, they dinnae say "Jimmy" on Skye -- that's frae ewe Glaswegians). There's no way I could replicate the "Skye Sigh" {ahhhaayyyyyy} and soft way of speach with the keyboard. Actually, knew some one frae Aberdeen wha oktually saied "are ye biding wi' her?" -- and he wasnae an ancient "Burns-a-holic". Let's see ... I also remember him saying "fit ye daein?" [What are you doing].

Still, there were many on Sleat who spoke the Gaelic as a first language -- so they had a verrrry soft way of speaking English.

The few months in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne didn't help my understanding of "Enlish" either!

Ahm awa'!

:^)
Guy

[ghp]

:Doh yeah and please don't do that pseudo Robert Burns stuff Guy it is quite disturbing... .... (hehehehehe) Okay, you asked for it! :D

Queen Elizabeth visited a hospital during one of her royal visits. After all the formalities, she was escorted through one of the wards. When she came to the first bed, the patient smiled and said, "O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!"

HM was nonplussed, smiled, and walked to the next bed. There, the next patient sat up and bellowed, "Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain" -- whereupon HM glanced sideways to the doctor.

At the third bed the patient mumbled, "Had we never lov'd sae kindly, Had we never lov'd sae blindly,…"

With eyes narrowed, HM pulled the doctor aside and asked, "Is this the psychiatric ward?" The doctor replied, "No, Ma’am … the Burns Ward."

--Guy

[Zoyashi]

Ah, Expats..!
First off: If nobody else says it, I will.
Quote: <<When she leaves, some of the residents want to know why, and when she says that she needs to go back to her own country, they tell her that they had forgotten that she was a foreigner... to the point of not noticing her blonde hair and blue eyes anymore.>>

Balony! This lady is either patting herself on the back or deceiving herself. This is classic “Oh! You can use chopsticks/ use one word of nihongo and be complimented on your fluency” flattery. If I had a dollar for every nihonjin who complimented me on my rather crappy language ability, I wouldn’t have had to work. They’re just being polite; they don’t mean it. I understand why she might wish it to be so, but I GUARANTEE nobody forgot she was a foreigner. And I’d bet my life behind her back they talked about how weird her blonde hair and blue eyes looked – to the day she left.

I would definitely agree with the assertion that the only people who become more Japanese than the Japanese are those who lack social skills in their native land and cling to their new culture as a desperate means of finally being complete. I wish them luck because they’re only going to get so far and no farther.

Finally, O foolish Aberdeen bashers, the granite city rules!

Josh “McMurray” Gepner

[ghp]

No Josh, your assumption in this case is wrong. She speaks Japanese very well. I saw a Japanese program featuring her and she is very dynamic. She saved her sake company's sales by convincing them to serve sake iced, as mixers, etc -- if I recall. All I really remember is her shock of blonde-white hair, good looks, and excellent spoken Japanese.

Will any of you ex-pats currently there (I'm an ex-ex-pat) -- who actually speak Japanese -- verify her language/grammar skills? I thought her ability was that of Kent Gilbert, etc.

At least I was impressed with her speaking ability.

Cheers,
Guy

[Zoyashi]

Dang, What happened to my quote?
I was not referring to the woman who saved the sake brewery, who I'm sure speaks excellent japanese, but to the author quoted earlier in Cady Goldfield's post. The one who claimed that when she left Japan her entire town stated they didn't even see her as a foreigner and didn't even notice her blonde hair and blue eyes.
THAT is so likely as to be almost unbelievable.
A saavy American business woman improving on the old boys network?
Believable. And I'm sure her nihon'go is excellent.

Josh Gepner

[ghp]

Dang, What happened to my quote? Yeah!!!! Don't you just hate it when that happens!!??

I agree with your clarification-- no matter how good the other lady might have spoken Japanese, she'll always be a "gai[koku]jin." Even Kent Gilbert is still gaijin, no matter how well he speaks Japanese -- and that's the only reason he's on all those talk shows.

"Sour Grapes"??? You bet ... BIG TIME!! :D

Cheers,
Guy