[Tenchu]

Daffy, I have a similar word to, gaijin, here in Thailand. They call us foreigner (especially whites), falang.

I don't mind the word. It's no different than us calling in Australia the Japanese, tourists, Asians, foreigners. Because all of those things might be true.

It only becomes offensive when someone knows your name, but persists to call you, gaijin/farang, instead of addressing you formally.

If people who know you are still calling you this, then you have every right to tell them to have some respect and address you with decency.

However, if the term is thrown around loosely in reffering to someone who's name you do not know, it's okay. It's just another word.

Finnally, there are few cultures in the word that have any eating skills whatsoever. The top two are Western cultures and Japanese. Most other cultures ate with their hands until only recently; some still do.

For someone who takes such an effort himself to practice correct eating, I despise people like you. You're trying to trash and boganize one of the best eating methods in the world. You should be ashamed.

If there is a Japanese steriotype, it deserves to be you; they should put you on national TV trying to eat traditional Japanese cuisine with a fork and spoon so everyone can laugh at the stupid bogan foreigner.