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05-15-2008, 05:43 AM
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People who look for racism will see it in everything around them - regardless of whether it`s present or not. Chances are, if you`ve been mistreated, it was because you did something to deserve it. Don`t blame everything on race. ETA; After actually looking at your page, you backed my argument perfectly. You are searching, desperately, for anything and everything that could be interpreted as discrimination. What fun with misinterpretation! *more eye rolling* Seriously - not everything you find unpleasant has anything to do with your race. Talk about a victim complex. 
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05-15-2008, 05:51 AM
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05-15-2008, 05:54 AM
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Everyone deserves to make their own conclusions. And i noticed that people here like to defend Japan a lot and as soon as someone leaves a negative comment or two, people jump on them.
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05-15-2008, 06:00 AM
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The reason I said "Leave quietly" is that he stated in his other post that he was leaving in 18 days. If he's leaving that soon, I don't see a point in joining JF now and spreading his hate? It's not too pretty in my opinion.
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05-15-2008, 06:02 AM
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05-15-2008, 07:07 AM
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And I think you misinterpret a lot of things on your website. For instance, a sign in English saying the area is patrolled by police can be to reassure foreign visitors that it's a safer area, rather than a warning to foreign criminals. I lived there 2 years, and I was never assaulted, even when I was traveling alone. I never had any problem getting a taxi to pick me up. I was never refused admission to a place because I'm not Japanese. I did encounter stares, mostly from kids. I did encounter some trouble when trying to find a different apartment, they didn't want to rent to a foreigner. But the number of good experiences massively outweigh the very few bad ones. A local restaurant delivery man once saw me walking my bike with a flat tire. He stopped on his own (I didn't flag him down, he chose to stop), put my bike in his truck, drove me to a bike repair shop to get the tire fixed, and even haggled with the guy for me to reduce the price! And another time, a member of the Hiroshima Orchestra spent 45 minutes helping me find my hotel, and drove me to it, despite the fact that it made him late for practice. And another time, at Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama, I didn't know that visitors were supposed to bring their own bath towels, they only rent tiny hand towels there. It was winter time, so just leaving wet wasn't a good option. A Japanese girl I had never seen before in my life overheard my conversation, and simply gave me her own towel, out of the kindness of her heart. And at a restaurant I often ate at, they noticed that I never ate the Japanese pickles. So they asked me what else I might like, and from then on, they always gave me some fruit or veggies instead of the pickles, including sometimes a slice of watermelon, honeydew melon, some strawberries, or other fruit that probably cost as much as the whole rest of the meal! They never charged extra, they did it out of kindness. I could go on and on, I have dozens and dozens of stories like this. If after 3 1/2 years you can't find even 1 good thing to say, 1 story of kindness or generosity, then you weren't living in the Japan I know.
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05-15-2008, 07:23 AM
You know what samurai007, after reading your comment, it made me think.
In Tokyo, you don't really get to experience heartwarming experience like you mentioned. It's same everywhere in the world in big cities but maybe that's what semprini was experiencing in Tokyo. I'm assuming he was living somewhere like Minato-ku or Shibuya and hanged out only at Roppongi... I guess that's what happens to those people who never try to get out of the shell.
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05-15-2008, 08:16 AM
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All the more reason to get out of Tokyo if you go to Japan! You may want to visit it now and then, maybe go shopping there if you live close by, but try to live somewhere else if possible. (Similarly, for Japanese that come to visit or stay in America, try to see the smaller towns and cities, which IMO can be much friendlier than the big cities) Even so, I've heard of foreigners being treated kindly even in the heart of Tokyo...
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05-15-2008, 08:43 AM
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Which part of the city did you used to live? Just add to the topic, I personally have negative images about SF. It's a great place to visit and a fun place as well but I am often stunned when people describe SF as the best city in the US or I love SF so much cos of the diversity and the freedom. But the truth is, non of these people are native San Franciscans and they only see the good side of SF while ignoring what is really going on in this city. The City of SF is pushing for racial segregation among school districts as well as racial cleansing in the Bayview/Hunter's Point area by kicking out African Americans. They promote propositions to build million dollar condos in these ghettos preparing for the future development of the Bayview community because it has the best view and the best whether in this cold city and what they have been doing for all these years was to have those African Americans live there in a toxic waste dump of the former Navy port and wait until it becomes cleaner. Once those condos are built, they would just go ahead and kick them out so some rich young professionals from all over the US can live there and enjoy the great life in SF. Anyways, if I were partying around all the time in Broadway, I wouldn't think this way but my research and work have heavily influenced my take of SF.
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05-15-2008, 09:15 AM
I actually lived just south of SF, in Daly City. 'Course, you can't tell where 1 city ends and the other begins in the bay area.
It has a lot of good food and some interesting sights and atmosphere, and lots of places nearby to get away, such as along the coast. But the city itself is crowded, waaaay too expensive, and full of people mostly looking out for themselves, in my experience. I was happy to move away, despite have to take a pay cut. When you figure that cost of living up here in Chico is about half that of the bay area, you may actually end up ahead, financially! And the people are so much friendlier here too. Have you ever been to Chico? It's about a 4 hour drive north of SF.
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