What Gets On Your Nerves 2, The Thread Without a Witty Subtitle!

[Darth Kiryu]

I've gotten increasingly agitated while driving over the years and it's at the point now where I'm seriously questioning if I have the mental stability to drive. Yeah, most of the time it's fine. But a shopping area we had to go to today was insanely busy for a Monday around midday. Almost got hit multiple times, both in the car and as a pedestrian so I had major anxiety. Needless to say, I wasn't the best company...

Just not sure what I can do about it. I usually avoid driving at peak times, but it's impossible to know when a place will randomly be super busy. This area is slightly better to traverse with a car than public transport as well, especially since it's a bunch of stores with building materials, outdoor/sports equipment and other large stuff that won't fit on a bus.

[Maverick Centigrade]

So the Robot Spirits Xamel is a webshop exclusive. Why do we keep playing this game Bandai?

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Just really tired, long shifts suck.

[goji89]

Just really tired, long shifts suck.

Busy street corner today?

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Just really tired, long shifts suck.

Busy street corner today?

Just like everyday.

[Fish Cakes]

Oddly specific, but there's no 10 hour loop video on youtube of Edea from Bravely Default going "mrgrgr". Why live?

[LSD Jellyfish]

Seemingly very minor complaint, but it represents some of the more over-all negative aspects of living in Japan. The instance I'm about to mention, is small, but you'll see my rationale in a moment. To be clear, this post isn't written with direct anger, and it's something I expected before moving here; it just still irks me.

Anyways, after living here for 4 months, I'm annoyed when people working at combini's give me forks, instead of chopsticks, when I get bento's for lunch or anything else. I don't mind if they ask, and I understand that for the most part people are trying to be helpful, but I've been routinely annoyed by when one specific place, always, without asking for preference, gives me a fork. It always leads to this really awkward interaction, where I say I don't want to use a fork, and ask for chopsticks/hashi.

Let me point out, that a lot of Japanese food, is incredibly awkward to eat with a fork/knife, as much of it is already pre-cut into smaller bite sized pieces. On top of that, it`s presuming that I'm an idiot, who came to a foreign country and needs to be pandered to/is too uncomfortable/dumb to use chopsticks. Am I over-analyzing this? Yeah, totally, but it`s still frustrating. This is super minor, but extends outwards super hard.

On a day to day basis, despite being conversationally fluent in Japanese, whenever I go somewhere, without my friends, girlfriend, students, people always try to awkwardly pander to me in English. Again, you might say,"Well what`s the big deal, they`re trying to be nice" and that`s true; again my annoyance isn`t aimed at people trying to be frustrating. The issue is that, in most cases, my Japanese is waaay better then their English, and by trying to pander to me, It`s making the whole process unnecessarily complicated/long.

Tokyo`s busiest areas, Akihabara, Shinjuku etc... are effectively ruined for me (I avoid them for all the bad tourists anyways).

Again, I expect many of you won't really understand why any of this is an issue, but it just plays into this over-all feeling of awkwardness that people basically view me as a tourist visiting here for two weeks. It is kind of funny, and I`ve developed ways around it, by just speaking Japanese very quickly, as fast and as fluently as possible, in any situation I wind up in. My favorite moment was when I was at a hotel in Tokyo, and the guy at the check-out was giving this big speech to these American tourists about "things to do in Tokyo", and I went up and just started speaking Japanese, telling him I don`t need any info, and he laughed, said that`s easy then, and instantly just took my money and gave me my room key. I`ve noticed the instant I say I live here, most people are more inclined to have actual conversations with me, rather then, "HAVE YOU EVER TRIED SUSHI". Yes, tourists are pandered and treated differently.

And yeah, while I want people to come and visit Japan, it is weird, like genuinely strange, feeling this big cultural divide between American`s visiting here, and myself. Case and point, I`ve been casually taking the bus to Mt. Fuji`s area to check things out and plan my ascent, but I always run into tourists, who are super crazed just about being in Japan, and shocked by the most minor things. Meanwhile, to me it`s the most casual thing ever. I appreciate the enthusiasm, I really do, and at one point I was like them, it`s just that I feel like I`m in this really weird cultural divide.

Anyone who has had the experience of moving to another country can probably find some similar ties in our experiences.

Despite this rant, still living a very happy life, and if anything this is just more encouragement to study more Japanese.

[Red Hunter]

When someone is going to tell me something and then he/she make s a hole suspense and drama before taalking, making me tense and worried sometimes. Than its saaid

"its nothing"

..

Then why did you maake me act like aa fool expecting you to tell something so serious if you don't wanna talk?????????????????????

[Darth Kiryu]

Anyone who has had the experience of moving to another country can probably find some similar ties in our experiences.

I've got some similar things, though some opposite of what you've posted.

I'm the awkward immigrant to Sweden who was born in Minnesota, and therefore have a Swedish name (minus the second S in my last name since it's a -son ending). When I first moved here, people were confused and almost offended when they discovered, rather quickly, that I didn't speak Swedish. At the time, I had taken 3 years of Swedish lessons back in Minnesota. But the group of students spoke very slowly and so did the teacher to help us, so normal speed Swedish was nigh incomprehensible to me. To salt the wound, the job I got was in a town about an hour's drive north of Gothenburg where a majority of the people were about as comfortable with their English as I was with my Swedish at the time. So I was kind of left to myself because of a language barrier, which ended up costing me that job in the end, along with the factor of a manager who was really creepy (the kind where you're pretty certain they're trying to undermine you and remind you of their authority) and a bizarrely cultish work atmosphere.

These days my comprehension is a lot better, but as soon as I forget a word and have to say something in English, people tend to switch the entire conversation at that point to English. Which I can understand; it's not all that common for people to just be able rapidly switch between languages. But I try to keep further responses in Swedish to help them get the hint.

[Fish Cakes]

That looking good takes effort. I keep procrastinating on starting my daily beauty routine again.

[BlankAccount]

That family member who asked me to take them to see Shin Godzilla and then ghosted me is now bitching to me about how their co-workers didn't invite them to a party. The lack of self awareness is....CHEESUS CRUST!

[Stump Feet]

Went on a good thirty-five minute drive only to find my bud guy not home. Fuck my life

Had plans on getting stoned with the misses, popping some popcorn and watching Hedorah with her, guess that's outta the question for today.

[goji89]

Went on a good thirty-five minute drive only to find my bud guy not home. skreeonk my life

Had plans on getting stoned with the misses, popping some popcorn and watching Hedorah with her, guess that's outta the question for today.

Oh well.....guess you'll just have to have boring sex like always.

[Stump Feet]

Ain't that the truth

[LSD Jellyfish]

That family member who asked me to take them to see Shin Godzilla and then ghosted me is now bitching to me about how their co-workers didn't invite them to a party. The lack of self awareness is....CHEESUS CRUST!

Wait Living Corpse, it was a family member this whole time?

[goji89]

That family member who asked me to take them to see Shin Godzilla and then ghosted me is now bitching to me about how their co-workers didn't invite them to a party. The lack of self awareness is....CHEESUS CRUST!

Wait Living Corpse, it was a family member this whole time?

Old school

[LSD Jellyfish]

Not really something that gets on my nerves, but my girlfriend yesterday told me she really doesn’t know how she feels about it. She told me she thinks I’m a cool person, and is attracted to me, but that she’s never had a boyfriend before, or even a literal male friend, so she’s not sure how she feels. I told her that I’d give her a week to think about things, fair enough.

If things don’t work out, while I’d be upset in the short term, I know it’ll be fine. There’s always more women, it’s just that I felt comfortable not feeling alone in japan. If she just wants to be friends that’s cool as well. Japanese women’s emotions are so difficult

[Darth Kiryu]

I'm still dead tired from fishing on Thursday. We had gotten home at about 2am and then had to clean the fish before bed. Ended up going to sleep at 5am that day.

[goji89]

I'm still dead tired from fishing on Thursday. We had gotten home at about 2am and then had to clean the fish before bed. Ended up going to sleep at 5am that day.

Hahaha.....silly Darth Kiryu, girls can't fish.

[Fish Cakes]

Hahaha.....silly Darth Kiryu, girls can't fish.

what did he mean by this?