"That's what I like about traveling--you can sit down, maybe talk to someone interesting, see something beautiful, read a good book, and tha's enough to qualify as a good day. You do that at home and everyone thinks you're a bum." --Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan Towards the end of my adventure in Japan, I was sitting on the sunny side of the train on my way home from Midori no Mori. There was a group of young foreigners--20s--standing in the same train car, talking amongst themselves. I wasn't in the mood for talking to other foreigners (I was of the mindset that this was my territory; my piece of Japan--as some long-term expats come to think), so I had my earbuds in. Close to my stop, I removed the earbuds and put them away. That's when one of the males came over and asked me, "Where are you from?" "America," I answered, as nicely as I could. "Yes, I figured that, but where?" "Oh," I said, flustered and slightly offended--only foreigners would be so direct. "I'm from Iowa." "Oh, we thought you were from New York or some big city place." "No, I'm not." I responded, offended, again. This time at his lack of appreciation of where I came from. He returned to his posse and I got ready to get off the train. The doors opened and I stepped out with the flow of other Japanese people. There was always a short wait to get on the escalator, so I made sure that I had my Suica card ready as I waited to go up. Then, the guy came up to me again, this time asking me my number in case they went out for drinks later. I told him that I don't give out my number, but that if he wanted he could find me on Facebook and message me through that.
Seemingly satisfied, he let me go through the exit of the station by myself as he met up with his group. I walked down to the bank to withdraw money for the week and when I walked back up the stairs to pass by the station on my way to my bike, they were still standing outside. I didn't give them another glance and instead continued my walk up the stairs. That's when I encountered one of my main school students. She stopped me and asked me a few questions about English club for tomorrow. As we were talking, the guy shouted at me from across the open area. "Are those your friends?" the student asked. "No, I just met them on the train," I replied, giving the guy a gesture that meant I would be with him in a moment. After I had finished my conversation, I walked over to the group where two of the guys split off and came over to me. They wanted to know where a good place to eat was. I listed off multiple locations around the area, pointing in the general directions and giving them a rundown of what would be on the menus, but none of the places sounded good to them. Patience depleted, I told them good luck and left. Personally, I would think that if someone offers advice, you should take it, especially if they have been living there for a while. But that's just my opinion. Also, learn some manners. Again, just my opinion.
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Myself
Video blogger and now a blogger as well. My life in Japan has changed me for the better. However, it wasn't easy... Archives
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