On being a foreigner and in well over your head

I just tried the pineapple version of the alchohol/sodas. It actually tastes like fresh pineapple (not canned, fresh burn-your-tongue but tasty pineapple). Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see these at home because people would sue the company because they didn't bother to read the label, saw a picture of fruit, and gave it to their toddler.

Sorry, waxed a bit cynical there.

Anyway, it occurred to me on the way home from class that the single most important experience I am gaining here is the simple experience of being a foreigner and not understanding everything around me. It's tough, it's humbling, but all in all not that bad... and it really brings home the idea of what it must be like to be a foreigner in the United States. I've always tried to be sensitive, but this really has taught me to appreciate more deeply the many individuals I meet for whom English is a second language. I wish there was a feasible way to make this experience mandatory for all Americans before they leave compulsory education. You learn what kind of sympathy you do and don't appreciate, how it feels to have others frustrated at your lack of comprehension, how it feels when people look at you like an idiot just because you can't remember the word you want to say. You realize that years of textbook education don't really teach you the words you really need on a daily basis even if you pulled straight As and impressed every teacher who instructed you. Most importantly, you learn the feeling of panic that comes after you manage to cobble together two coherent sentences... only to have the other person think you know more than you do and start speaking full speed .

True, I intend to use Japanese in my career. But even if I didn't, the most important thing I am bringing home stands. No matter what your feelings on immigration, foreigners in your home country deserve your respect. I'm not saying assume each foreigner is a saint fighting an uphill battle against persecution and Hollywood-style circumstance. If there's a second important thing I've learned, it's that assholes and bastards are pretty much evenly distributed across all racial and political boundaries. But understand (I know, I'm preaching to the choir here) that just opening your mouth in country that speaks a different language than you bounces back and forth between terrifying and carrying a resigned acceptance you are going to embarrass yourself at some point.

Yes, sometimes it sucks and makes me whiny. But it is a wonderful lesson, and I'm glad to have it. And just think... this is JAPAN, where the vast majority of people speak some English, signs are quite frequently bilingual, I can find familiar products, and in a panic I can find at least one person who speaks fluently enough in English to help me. This is NOT the experience of most foreigners in America. Granted I have never been to areas where having materials bilingual in Spanish is considered a necessity, but what I have seen in Indiana, New Hampshire, and places in between can in no way compare to the amount of English help available here. In fact, next time I hear someone complaining about a bilingual sign in a grocery store/bank/post office, or it taking two repetitions to order a Big Mac, I may haul off and smack them. It's not about our culture. It's about being a good neighbor in a country where globalization is a fact, and a fact that often works in our favor.

As an aside, I'm stepping around the issue of the outsourcing of tech support. Yes, this is a mutually frustrating process, and a much more complicated issue. Let's just say the need for politeness and understanding still applies (but does not mean you can't be annoyed), and that the difficulty is not just ours.

Make your kids try a foreign language, preferably when very young, unless you have extraordinary circumstances that prevent it. It's good for them, it's good for the world. Even if they aren't very good, so what? Praise them for trying! Seeing how hard it is to be on the outside may be the lesson that does us as a country the most good.