| context: the importance of being... not baka |
[Aug. 13th, 2008|04:09 pm] |
sometimes i slap myself in the forehead (figuratively) and think... okay, lesson learned.. don't do that again.
i was talking quite animatedly to this person that j and i and friends met in nyc about japan. and he asked how's it liked being back. gathering from his personality from the very little i interacted with him and from general reactions to the responses i gave when people asked this previously, i answered with very specific answers. people seem to react well to that and want to hear about those kinds of things. something that's quirky and, yet, very true.
so, i mentioned something mundane but potentially interesting to others: the nonexistence of squat toilets, which therefore made possible for what seemed like a huge gap on the stall doors between the door and the floor, where people could potentially (but hopefully don't peek in.) I mean, it's so that you know someone's there b/c you see a foot right? but in japan, b/c of squat toilets, the doors have to go way low to the ground, and all the doors have red or green on the locks to show whether a toilet is in use. and most people are courteous to knock if they are unsure. (in america, people tend to knock, too, but we also tend to look at the legs/foot primarily so we don't need to knock)
so, it seemed almost kind of unnecessarily exposing myself when i went to the bathroom for the first time in america. i was sitting in a bathroom in a layover at san fran and wondering why it seemed like my bookbag that i had a hard time standing up against the door, was going to fall through the gap that's between the door and the ground to the other side of the bathroom stall, where people are. it was a huge gap, i thought. quite huge.
that was kind of a very jarring moment.
so i relayed that moment to him, the random dude we met at nyc's french fry joint, and he said, "Maybe you should request squat stalls. But you can't ask in an American accent, you have to do it in a Japanese one (so people would believe that you were from Japan and really needed one)."
and then he tried to do an Asian-y voice that was kind of like the sound of "Me love you long time." that was more a typical mimick of Chinese than Japanese. (This didn't really offend me.. I dunno maybe for someone else it may possibly could've, but he seemed quite cosmpolitan enough for it to not. he also mentioned he had a bunch of Asian friends before, and this statement from him might also bother people, but actually seems to make sense to me in making it okay for him to say things like that.) And then he laughed to himself and was like, "yeah, I don't really know how to do a Japanese voice"
So, then, I break out my most Japanese-est of accents and say quite emphatically, "Toireto! Sukuwato! Kudasai! Purisu!" (Toilet! Squat! Please! Please!) As a joke..
But, then, I noticed these two (perhaps Japanese?) people sitting across from us, staring at us. Not glaring, just staring. And at me, who's putting on this accented show, with probably what is a very accurate accent of chopped-up Japanese English.
---
In retrospect, hmm, yeah, now that I think about it.. that's probably pretty offensive. I was in the middle of (a small) Japan Town in NYC.
Even if the people sitting across from me weren't offended, but just curious about my outburst, I still should be more reserved or guarded about making fun of other people's accents. I'm no comedian and I'm not in situations (aka on stage doing standup) where it's kind of socially acceptable.
I mean, in Japan, I might've done it. Okay, I have. B/c it was fun! And learning how to butcher English to sound like a Japanese accent was halfway learning Japanese pronunciation. And, y'know, I never did it to the natives, just kind of chuckled to myself and the other expat counterpats who knows what it is like to teach English to Japanese-speakers.
But, in America, not in intimate friends situations, but in public places, that's probably less acceptable.
Assuaging factors:
1. Luckily I look Japanese. If worse comes to worse, maybe I can claim nativeness and say I'm half so it's okay to make fun of the language. Or have people assume I'm Japanese so it's okay if I make fun of myself or my own culture.
But, that probably more compounds my ignorance and insensitivity than assuages it.
2. I wouldn't make so much fun of it, if I weren't kind of at home with it (it as in Japan or Japanese language/culture). I kind of make fun of it endearingly. I have a lot of respect for Japanese culture and people and whatever. I had a great experience in Japan. I don't do it out of spite or mean-spirited ridicule. I just kind of love the way it sounds.
Despite these assuaging factors...
As a rule, I should just be more careful. As much as I can defend myself for my sudden mimicry of badly pronounced English, it's just probably not smart to do it in the dead center of Japanese town in New York. Just kind of dumb.
Oh well. I made up for it by going to a tea house and using my knowledge for good. Speaking Japanese and being polite. And not being totally a boisterous, loud, ignorant American.
Ah, ma ika, at least I feel culpable. |
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