barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold) (12/19/85)
Life is considerably harder in Japan for foreigners who AREN'T spotted as such. When we were there, one of my husband's co-workers was Doug Abe, a sansei (third generation American) who spoke a few hundred words of Japanese -- and couldn't read any, along with his wife (ditto) and their kids (who spoke even less). We were based in suites at the New Otani (whose mortgage was held by a bank which owned part of the company for which the programmers worked, so rooms were at a discount). Every so often, some hotel employee would realize in surprise that Abe-san was being given an English language newspaper and send him the Japanese language paper instead. And poor Doug would have to straighten things out. More seriously, one of the kids failed to respond promptly and politely to an adult who told him to do something or other (he had no idea what) and got slapped on the street. And Mrs. Abe grunted the wrong way during a volleyball lesson given by a Japanese coach and was told he wouldn't teach her any more. He would put up with that sort of rudeness from an American but she had to no better. (She had to spend quite awhile explaining that she hadn't meant to insult him when she said, "Oomph.") --Lee Gold