Ever since I’ve hit the 5 year point or so, I often seem to get an astonished reaction to this question. Just wondering if most others seem to get this, and how they interpret it.
Some ideas:
* it means almost nothing (kind of like a “sugoi!” reaction to something that is almost definitely not sugoi).
* they don’t think Japan is a place worth living in for a long time and many other countries must be better.
* my Japanese is still s$#t and they are ending how I’ve managed to live here for so long : )
I wouldn’t say it normally bothers me at all, it just gets a bit repetitive. Just wondering if others experience the same thing.
Edit: a bit of insight, I did get this reaction yesterday from someone I met at an Izakaya from someone who I would describe as not a ‘typical’ Japanese guy (lived overseas for a while, traveled the world, an artist, kind of critical of Japan). He expressed a similar level of surprise, and attributed it to me seeming ‘normal’ (‘some foreigners become like Japanese people’) and Japan being ‘not an easy place to live’.
9 comments
It is because they’re surprised you’re still here and haven’t gone home yet. To the average person gaijin don’t stay here forever – they simply come to work, or holiday, and then leave. The concept of naturalising or staying permanently is lost on a lot of them and they’re wondering why you haven’t gone home. Of course not all, but in my experience that is usually the reason.
Are you actually talking about surprise to the (your) response to the question?
If so. It’s fake surprise.
Try with different numbers.
When people ask me how long I plan to stay here I say, 死ぬまで日本に住んでいます.
They are surprised because many foreigners stay only a few years at best before going back home. There is a heavy rotation of English teachers or farm workers so most Japanese tend to think, rightly, that most foreigners don’t plan to live here long term.
When you live in a place with few foreigners you start to think like this too, having seen most of the people you know leave the country. I have a European friend who now tries to avoid becoming friends with foreigners because of the disappointment to see them leave eventually.
* my Japanese is still s$#t and they are ending how I’ve managed to live here for so long : )
I vote for this answer
once you hit 15 you will stop being astonished just about everything: about how long your stay has been, nihongojouzu, all that stuff
Tbh I think homebodies in NZ who have never lived overseas do the same thing to foreigners who aren’t married or don’t own a business.
At least people in Japan generally are asking out curiosity and not xenophobia.
I think they’re just being polite and making nice conversation tbh.
It’s just a small talk and a typical reaction. IMHO, living in foreign country for a long period itself is actually a sugoi thing regardless of countries. I would react the same to foreigners in my home country if they have stayed more than five years.