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Kim version 2.0

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Is discrimination in Japan a big deal?

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Is labeling and categorizing types of people even a big issue in Japan? I have this rising suspicion that it's just how things are here in Japan. Maybe it's cause I was taught when I was young the very politically correct idea that everyone is the same, maybe that's why I think like this.

You know that whole "it's rude to stare" thing that you were taught when you were young eating your Cocoa Puffs cereal in your alligator polo shirt? Well, based on the many people that stare at me when I speak English, I kind of have a notion that some people aren't taught that over here in Japan. Fools are HELLA staring at me when I speak English. It's those little things that sort of get to me, when people stare and search for who the english speaker is and when they see it's not what their image is of an English speaker, they roll their eyes. What kind of shit is that? I mean same shit happens in the states right? If you hear someone speak Japanese, you're like I wonder who the Japanese speaker is. I'm don't want to complain this entire time, but I do have to admit a part of myself is becoming more bitter. Living in a foreign country is pretty damn challenging.

In an ideal world, everyone would realize image is all B.S. It's all you see on the surface. But I've never felt so much pressure ever in my life then right now, to improve how I look on the outside. In a way, of course that's not a bad thing, but I think it's one of those things that consume people. And I feel I'm starting to become like that. Hopefully soon I meet some good people who remind me that it's good to just be who I am. Sorry for the rant.

To end this, I wanna include a touching excerpt from the Bret Hart book that I just finished reading. This is a letter that a fan wrote to Bret Hart after hearing of his forced retirement. There's not really a underlying reason for me posting this excerpt, but I thought it was real and it was touching. And like me on certain days, Bret Hart rocks.

"It's unbelievable how much of the Hitman character helped shape the person I am today.... I saw how you never, ever gave up.... What I learned from the Hitman was to work hard, to never give up and most importantly to have confidence in yourself. Those beliefs may sound corny but when you are a ten-year old kid growing up in a broken home where you are constantly being told how worthless you are those beliefs can be a positive thing."

"... I heard somewhere that celebrities shouldn't be a child's hero, that heroes should be people who are real. Well, sometimes the people in a child's life can't be heroes. The child may have to look elsewhere."

Real.

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