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The 'I can't/won't understand you' look


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What do you do in response to the 'I can't or won't understand you' look that sometimes a gaijin gets here in Japan.

 

You probably know the one.

 

The one where you go into a shop and confront a petrified not-too-bright shop person, speak some understandable Japanese clearly*, and they look at you as if you just spoke Klingon. Refusing to accept that they can understand what you say. Really annoys me and yesterday I got quite irritated by this guy who was resorting to the nervous laugh and bowing to apologies for pretty much everything. Grrrr.

 

Anyone got a good way to deal with this kind of thing, one that works. One that just isn't getting pissed off? How do you ask for someone else?

 

 

 

(*correct words, grammar, decent accent, clear)

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I win them round with my charm. ;)

 

But seriously, if your Japanese is decent, keeping friendly and calm and just continuing will, I find, win them round.

After that first 'a!, gaijin' reaction.

Getting worked up and piling on the pressure only makes things worse.

There are some no hopers of course, when it's best to finish quickly walk round and find someone else.

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I've had said cretin, reply to me in strained broken English "I no speak English".......no shit! But since I asked in japanese (and it was for something ridiculously simple) give me my fricking stuff!! :)

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I win them round with my charm. ;)

 

But seriously, if your Japanese is decent, keeping friendly and calm and just continuing will, I find, win them round.

After that first 'a!, gaijin' reaction.

Getting worked up and piling on the pressure only makes things worse.

There are some no hopers of course, when it's best to finish quickly walk round and find someone else.

 

This is so true, even the charm!

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Possibly the worst thing about this is that the shop person will go home, say "I had this gaijin customer today", and everyone will feel sorry for him or her for being put in what must automatically be a difficult situation. It must be difficult because that's what the stereotype is and they are always true.

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On the flipside of this there are obviously very patient, nice people who will bend over backwards to help you.......like the woman in the bank yesterday. I had to open a new bank account as my night job only deals with one bank (WTF is with that in Japan??) and my Japanese isn't particularly good, but she was very patient as I blundered through and even when I was writing my stuff in katakana, she smiled and helped.......it looked like a baby wrote it, but she didn't make any comment etc

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