Quote:
Originally Posted by Blizzer
Gaijin is a pretty stupid word imo, embrace multi-culturalism.
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Sorry -5 karma for you not getting what she meant. +5 to Kang and Tri-ring for understanding what she meant (a japanese magazine about Japan and featuring/havind ads containing people you don't see much or at all in Japan -- the implicit cue in those ads is that "things and people Western are more beautiful than asian talent"). You should take a look at the ads (which are decidedly NOT multi-cultural) first.
Gaijin or hagaijin just means "outsider"(or "not japanese") to my wife's family. I'm a gaijin if that wasn't clear. My extended family is multi-cultural and multi-racial by definition.
Multi-culturalism, which is a different subject from what I was talking about...
America is a somewhat unique place where multi-culturalism seems to work for now (people have their heritage and ethnicity but like to enjoy the fun parts of other ethnicities or heritages). England's colonial background helps it handle multi-culturalism but you can hear some creaks and groans. Other countries.... well, YMMV but I'd hate to see, for example, Germany, Korea, or Cambodia lose what makes them special. If I ever immigrate, I'll always be "the dancing bear" standing out in the crowd, but I consider it my duty to know the local language and know the local customs and etiquette.
It will be interesting to see how Japan handles a larger minority of foreign cultural influx (like the Brazilians) but I kind of applaud the noises I'm hearing about them insisting that incomers "learn the language, learn the culture, you don't have to drop what you like from where you're from *but* you came *here* after all".