Japan: Gaijin

Yello Everybody,

Earlier this week I was on a train going to Kusunoki school and a fellow Gaijin(foreigner) sitting next to me started talking to me. His name he said was Si(pronounced Sigh, probably short for Simon) and he was a high school exchange student from Adelaide. He was a nice guy, just started living in Kumamoto in the last couple of months and asked about things to do in the area. It also turned out that he had less japanese speaking ability than I do(apparently none of the top Japanese speaking students at his school wanted to go so he was able to). Anyway it was nice to talk to a fellow Aussie and get a new perspective on Japan. However this got me thinking about the different types of Gaijin in Japan and certain common Gaijin behaviors.

Si was quite unusual, for some reason most Gaijin don't start up conversations when they see each on the street, in shops or on trains or the like, despite the fact it's very rare to see a fellow Gaijin(especially in a smaller city like Kumamoto). This of course doesn't hold true in other settings like bars, clubs and so on. In public there appears to be a feeling of being in a bubble of some kind, you have your bubble floating in the sea of Japan and Japanese and every other Gaijin(who is not a friend or co-worker) has their own seperate bubble which doesn't relate to yours. It's a very strange thing and not even something truly done on the conscious level, I find myself doing it all the time even if its the only other Gaijin i've seen in weeks we see each other, maybe give each other a nod(as fellow Gaijins) and then ignore each other.

Anyway I've come to the conclusion that there seem to be 4 fairly distinct types of Gaijin.
1. The Party Gaijin: These Gaijin are over in Japan purely for the fun, they generally have little knowledge of Japanese culture and don't really care about it, clubbing, parties, socializing, short term relationships. They are often loud and sometimes do things which give the other Gaijin a bad name. Usually Party Gaijin are short term visiters, but some ELT's(english language teachers) who have a dorm style set up(a lot of Gaijins living in the one place) also fall into this category and apparently the American Soldiers in Okinawa are somewhat infamous for being like this(to the extent that many bars in Okinawa ban foreigners). In terms of long term Gaijin, being a party Gaijin is very difficult without a closeknit group of fellow party Gaijin. These Gaijin don't often talk to other Gaijin outside of their actual group.
2. The Relaxed Gaijin: These Gaijin are in Japan also for fun, but not in a less aggressive way than the Party Gaijin. They have varying levels of Japanese knowledge, but are happy to use what they do know and unafraid of making any embarrassing mistakes(they appologise if they realise they've made one). This type of Gaijin is the type which is happy to talk to other Gaijin on the street and are allround nice people. These Gaijin can be short term, long term or in any type of situation. Extrovert's without being insensitive is a good way to describe them.
3. The Consciencious Gaijin: These Gaijin are in Japan not only for fun but also to learn about the Japanese culture. They have a decent level of Japanese knowledge which they try to use when they can, but they are more cautious about offending people by making mistakes. These Gaijin are almost always long term. Slightly Introverted with cultural sensitivity is a good way to describe them.
4. The Professional Gaijin: These Gaijin are in Japan for the long haul, they've got a greater understanding of Japanese culture and often a high level of Japanese language skills, they are in companies and often in long term relationships(usually with a Japanese person). Professional Gaijin are often very nice open people, however they sometimes fall into the trap of acting "More Japanese than thou", basically by virtue of their superior Japanese knowledge, they often feel as if they are a real part of Japanese society(not truly possible unfortunately(at least without having lived here for a very long time(40 years or so) or through all your childhood schooling and up, and even then it's iffy)) and have a tendancy to look down on, snub and maliciously correct the faults of other Gaijin.

Personally I fall somewhere between the Relaxed and Consciencious categories(probably more Consciencious since although i'm working on it i'm an introvert by nature). The image today are the Japanese characters for Gaikokujin(full prounciation of Gaijn).