Here's a Japan tip I learned today: don't ever bother spending your money on gashapon or blind box toys while visiting the country. The top floors of several stores in Akihabara are seriously just clearinghouses for unwanted toys. You can walk into one of these stores and just pick out the one you want for 200 Yen. Even better, you can get a huge grab bag of them for 300-500 Yen. They're generally sorted by the subject matter, so you can go in and grab a Gundam bag, Disney bag, video game characters bag, etc. I spent about $15 US and got a little mini-souvenir for just about everyone I know.
Okay, perhaps I have, ahem, slight weeaboo tendencies, but I am one of the weeaboo nobles, the super elite guard of weeaboos. HA ha! (insert laughing nobleman.jpg)
I'm sure you'd agree the majority of people who take Japanese language classes in highschool are terrifying weeaboos though.
Yes, but it still makes me happy when people have an interest in Japan. I just want to instill in people the reality of foreign cultural studies. It's not heaven, it's just a normal place with lots of normal human beings living their lives. It's a cool place, and I love Tokyo the same way I love NYC, but I want people, through their studies, to develop a more realistic attitude toward Japan.
Japan has enough white people obsessed with it, I think.
Why can't some of them become a weeaboo for Australia instead or something? Thailand? Thailand is pretty cool, why can't America export some of their weeaboos to Thailand for a few years? Japan deserves a break.
Why can't some of them become a weeaboo for Australia instead or something?
Because those countries aren't producing cultural items and products that can take over people's mindshare the way Japan does. I'm sure there are Australian weeaboos who just love Rugby and Kangaroos and BBQ, but there are far more people who love swords, ninjas, anime, manga, tokusatsu, cinema, MUJI, crazy fashion, electronics, cars, music, etc.
Why must you burst my bubble. A man can dream, can't he?
My impression of weaboo was that, to be one, you had to have a warped perception of Japan.
That's also how I define it, anyone who aggrandizes Japan simply doesn't know much about the place to be entirely ignorant of the multitude of social ills and other unsavory aspects that exist there.
I'm sure there are Australian weeaboos who just love Rugby and Kangaroos and BBQ
There really are.
Because those countries aren't producing cultural items and products that can take over people's mindshare the way Japan does.
Pretty much. We have the odd blip on the radar - Mad Max, Pricilla queen of the desert, Mythbusters, etc - but we don't consistently produce large quantities of materiel in the way Japan does.
I think if we diverted all the weeaboos to Thailand they'd have a way better time anyway. Get them all laid for the first time in their lives and make it a trip to remember : D
Why can't some of them become a weeaboo for Australia instead or something? Thailand? Thailand is pretty cool, why can't America export some of their weeaboos to Thailand for a few years? Japan deserves a break.
I dunno, I have friends who are HUGE anglophiles and love the UK, friends who have a major hard-on for French language and culture, and friends who are learning Korean so they can understand the pop music and the dramas that come out of that country, and indulge in the fashions and trends of the peninsula. Crushing on a culture isn't limited to Japan. Japan is funky and popular among geeks, so we are more conscious of it.
Because those countries aren't producing cultural items and products that can take over people's mindshare the way Japan does. I'm sure there are Australian weeaboos who just love Rugby and Kangaroos and BBQ, but there are far more people who love swords, ninjas, anime, manga, tokusatsu, cinema, MUJI, crazy fashion, electronics, cars, music, etc.
I totally am a weeaboo for MUJI. It makes me calm, being surrounded by sketchbooks and dishes.
Why can't some of them become a weeaboo for Australia instead or something? Thailand? Thailand is pretty cool, why can't America export some of their weeaboos to Thailand for a few years? Japan deserves a break.
I dunno, I have friends who are HUGE anglophiles and love the UK, friends who have a major hard-on for French language and culture, and friends who are learning Korean so they can understand the pop music and the dramas that come out of that country, and indulge in the fashions and trends of the peninsula.
Those lot aren't nearly as annoying or likely to be severely socially awkward like weeaboos are. Although koreaboos are becoming more and more prominent.
Those lot aren't nearly as annoying or likely to be severely socially awkward like weeaboos are. Although koreaboos are becoming more and more prominent.
Those lot aren't nearly as annoying or likely to be severely socially awkward like weeaboos are. Although koreaboos are becoming more and more prominent
Like I said, I think it is not because they like Japan, but merely because nerds who are already socially awkward grow to like the stuff that comes out of Japan.
Fun fact, I am probably more like a weeaboo when it comes to the Scandinavian countries than when it comes to Japan. Japan, I have lived and learned there and adapted to daily life. Japan is more like home. Finland, I learn random phrases, geek out over pagan Christmas traditions, get super excited when I get salty candy, and grew up with the Moomintroll books. I go eat at Scandinavia House Cafe, I draw pictures of reindeer in the snow, and read indie comics even though I cannot understand most anything that is being said. I am naive about it and obsessed with the culture at the same time.
I also know one person who is totally obsessed with the UK, to the point that they went and got into Oxford for grad school and moved there. The UK does put out items of cultural significance, mostly in their television, but sometimes also with music. It's much easier to test out show concepts on the small scale there to see whether it would work in the USA.
As for Japan, my earlier comment that people should learn the language was not saying I encourage people to become weeaboos, but that it's not very enjoyable to fly halfway around the world and fail at ordering a sandwich. I think the average 16-year-old Japan-obsessed kid would shit themselves if they ever got dropped off here because it is not a fantasy land. It's just a different place where people are going about their daily lives. There's just slight differences that are fun to observe as a traveller, but I think most people would be expecting more.
I do a lot of travel for work, and I travel hard, in the sense that I always try to take in the local area while coworkers hole themselves up in their hotel rooms. My personal goal is to explore all 50 states, but I never thought I'd be sent international. Japan has been fun, I've seen a lot of neat architecture, ate more delicious food than I can remember, and bought everyone I know a lot of cool little souvenirs. I think that 7 days here was a little long, though. I like my country just fine and there's only so much you can absorb before you've had your fill. Maybe would be more fun if I was traveling on vacation with friends? (this would never actually happen because of the expense).
As for my own personal observations versus expectations, I was expecting video games to be just a tad more popular in the merchandising sense. I can count all of the anime I've seen on one hand, never read a manga, and never listened to J-pop, so that stuff is sort of noise to me when I see stuff on store shelves. I see it but I have no idea what it is. I am a retro video game nerd, though. When shopping around I have been surrounded by tons of character merchandise, but almost never any video games. In fact, now that I think about it I didn't see even a single Sonic the Hedgehog or other Sega character. No Sega love in Japan? What's your take on this, Kaptain K? (you did previously speak for all Japanese people so I would like to hear some more)
The Yotsuba&! episode had me wanting to brush up on my Japanese skills in reading original in Japanese only manga. However, I will need some reference aide to help me with some translations.
I started looking on the iTunes store for various iPhone/iPad apps to help. There are so many to search through to figure out what is best.
I did find one, Midori, and it seems to be one that may be best suited for what I'm currently looking for along with additional features to help learn Japanese. I'm just really wary of dropping $10 without at least testing it out first. I really wish all apps in the app store allowed a demo of the app without having to purchase it.
The Yotsuba&! episode had me wanting to brush up on my Japanese skills in reading original in Japanese only manga. However, I will need some reference aide to help me with some translations.
I started looking on the iTunes store for various iPhone/iPad apps to help. There are so many to search through to figure out what is best.
I did find one, Midori, and it seems to be one that may be best suited for what I'm currently looking for along with additional features to help learn Japanese. I'm just really wary of dropping $10 without at least testing it out first. I really wish all apps in the app store allowed a demo of the app without having to purchase it.
Anyone's thoughts or impressions?
I really recommend Anki for memorization. It's a flashcard program that can be used for anything (like medical terms, other languages) but it is tailored to be great for Japanese. Also, I recommend getting DS Rakubiki Jiten. I like it because you don't have to know the reading of the character and you can just write it with the stylus. My favorite Dictionary is my DS! However, that is expensive and more tailored to Japanese people, and Midori sounds really good. I don't know much about Midori, but it sounds cool. I use AEDict on my phone, but it doesn't have the learning features. I'd say go for it! It's cheaper than a textbook, and if you really hate it, I will buy you a good food at PAX or something. I am always happy when people learn Japanese. Also, with Yotsuba, my dad reads a little Japanese, but not a ton. He still loves to read the Japanese volumes, and laughs and laughs.
I think that 7 days here was a little long, though. like my country just fine and there's only so much you can absorb before you've had your fill.
It's not actually that long once it starts to feel like everyday home life. Rym and I were just there for 12 days recently and that felt way too short. You can't really experience the fullness of a place in that amount of time, but I have I gave Rym, rather than the full course culture meal of the exchange program, a sort of sampler platter where he could savor a bunch of different experiences briefly.
Well I did lose all my old learning Japanese books from college. I do, however, have my old worksheets and vocab sheets along with practice graph paper with kanji.
I still haven't purchased the Midori dictionary, but I think I just want to start learning again. There are some $10 learning Japanese apps I've been looking at, but since there are no real customer reviews, I'm very reluctant to take the plunge.
I know there are free apps, but I honestly want to learn again and have some sort of focused learning plan to keep me on track.
I think that 7 days here was a little long, though. like my country just fine and there's only so much you can absorb before you've had your fill.
It's not actually that long once it starts to feel like everyday home life. Rym and I were just there for 12 days recently and that felt way too short. You can't really experience the fullness of a place in that amount of time, but I have I gave Rym, rather than the full course culture meal of the exchange program, a sort of sampler platter where he could savor a bunch of different experiences briefly.
I posted that back in Jan 2011 when I had just got back from my trip. AND I AM DYING TO GO BACK.
I think I was feeling a bit too much culture shock at the time. 7 days is not nearly long enough! The trip was amazing but it wore me out b/c I essentially went by myself. It was work travel, and the other guy stayed in his hotel most of the time.
Not being able to communicate wore me out mostly. I wished I knew more of the language, but it was hard to justify learning in advance b/c the trip had gotten cancelled so many times, and there was a good chance it would never happen. I only had about 2 weeks notice that it was definitely on when I did wind up going!
I posted that back in Jan 2011 when I had just got back from my trip. AND I AM DYING TO GO BACK.
I think I was feeling a bit too much culture shock at the time. 7 days is not nearly long enough! The trip was amazing but it wore me out b/c I essentially went by myself. It was work travel, and the other guy stayed in his hotel most of the time.
Not being able to communicate wore me out mostly. I wished I knew more of the language, but it was hard to justify learning in advance b/c the trip had gotten cancelled so many times, and there was a good chance it would never happen. I only had about 2 weeks notice that it was definitely on when I did wind up going!
Actually, even I got a little culture-shocked going back over. The day after we arrived we walked all around the Shibuya/Harajuku/Yoyogi area, and then went to Ikebukuro. I was jetlagged out of my skull, my stomach was feeling like it had a rock in it, and I was really zoned out and unhappy. I felt this depression, this nothingness, like "I love it here. This is one of my favorite places! Why am I so unhappy? Why am I not overjoyed to be back at this old familiar city?" I had literally shed tears of happiness when I saw the Okaeri Nasai sign in the airport, and had felt full of anticipation and joy. The next day, I just stumbled around getting mildly pissed off at the amount of porn and prostitution at ikebukuro, and worn out by the loud flashy lights. Then we met my teacher and it was a very nice evening, during which I started to feel very good about things again. After that I was happy. The next day, I read on the internet that jet-lag/dehydration can cause, among other things, a feeling of depression and emotional numbness. I actually did miss Japan after all, and I felt extra good after I came to my host family's house again.
Comments
Why can't some of them become a weeaboo for Australia instead or something? Thailand? Thailand is pretty cool, why can't America export some of their weeaboos to Thailand for a few years? Japan deserves a break.
@Red Weaboo Ranger: Blue Weaboo Ranger reporting!
(Thailand has whores all over the place)
Fun fact, I am probably more like a weeaboo when it comes to the Scandinavian countries than when it comes to Japan. Japan, I have lived and learned there and adapted to daily life. Japan is more like home. Finland, I learn random phrases, geek out over pagan Christmas traditions, get super excited when I get salty candy, and grew up with the Moomintroll books. I go eat at Scandinavia House Cafe, I draw pictures of reindeer in the snow, and read indie comics even though I cannot understand most anything that is being said. I am naive about it and obsessed with the culture at the same time.
In short, Salmiakki is my Pocky.
As for Japan, my earlier comment that people should learn the language was not saying I encourage people to become weeaboos, but that it's not very enjoyable to fly halfway around the world and fail at ordering a sandwich. I think the average 16-year-old Japan-obsessed kid would shit themselves if they ever got dropped off here because it is not a fantasy land. It's just a different place where people are going about their daily lives. There's just slight differences that are fun to observe as a traveller, but I think most people would be expecting more.
I do a lot of travel for work, and I travel hard, in the sense that I always try to take in the local area while coworkers hole themselves up in their hotel rooms. My personal goal is to explore all 50 states, but I never thought I'd be sent international. Japan has been fun, I've seen a lot of neat architecture, ate more delicious food than I can remember, and bought everyone I know a lot of cool little souvenirs. I think that 7 days here was a little long, though. I like my country just fine and there's only so much you can absorb before you've had your fill. Maybe would be more fun if I was traveling on vacation with friends? (this would never actually happen because of the expense).
As for my own personal observations versus expectations, I was expecting video games to be just a tad more popular in the merchandising sense. I can count all of the anime I've seen on one hand, never read a manga, and never listened to J-pop, so that stuff is sort of noise to me when I see stuff on store shelves. I see it but I have no idea what it is. I am a retro video game nerd, though. When shopping around I have been surrounded by tons of character merchandise, but almost never any video games. In fact, now that I think about it I didn't see even a single Sonic the Hedgehog or other Sega character. No Sega love in Japan? What's your take on this, Kaptain K? (you did previously speak for all Japanese people so I would like to hear some more)
I started looking on the iTunes store for various iPhone/iPad apps to help. There are so many to search through to figure out what is best.
I did find one, Midori, and it seems to be one that may be best suited for what I'm currently looking for along with additional features to help learn Japanese. I'm just really wary of dropping $10 without at least testing it out first. I really wish all apps in the app store allowed a demo of the app without having to purchase it.
Anyone's thoughts or impressions?
Also, with Yotsuba, my dad reads a little Japanese, but not a ton. He still loves to read the Japanese volumes, and laughs and laughs. It's not actually that long once it starts to feel like everyday home life. Rym and I were just there for 12 days recently and that felt way too short. You can't really experience the fullness of a place in that amount of time, but I have I gave Rym, rather than the full course culture meal of the exchange program, a sort of sampler platter where he could savor a bunch of different experiences briefly.
I still haven't purchased the Midori dictionary, but I think I just want to start learning again. There are some $10 learning Japanese apps I've been looking at, but since there are no real customer reviews, I'm very reluctant to take the plunge.
I know there are free apps, but I honestly want to learn again and have some sort of focused learning plan to keep me on track.
I've mainly been looking at the Innovative Language apps.
I think I was feeling a bit too much culture shock at the time. 7 days is not nearly long enough! The trip was amazing but it wore me out b/c I essentially went by myself. It was work travel, and the other guy stayed in his hotel most of the time.
Not being able to communicate wore me out mostly. I wished I knew more of the language, but it was hard to justify learning in advance b/c the trip had gotten cancelled so many times, and there was a good chance it would never happen. I only had about 2 weeks notice that it was definitely on when I did wind up going!