Re: [tlug] (OT) The enigma of Japan (was: UNIX jobs on TLUG)

[Shawn Brown <big.coffee.lover@example.com>]

> I wonder, if someone were to live in two or more different foreign
> countries (Western countries don't count because they are too
> familiar), I bet you'd begin to see common threads.

Yes, I suspect so.

For example, when I am right and a Japanese person is wrong and it's
important enough that I have to say something about it and I don't
have confidence in my ability to sort of discreetly hint in a manner
they are sure to understand, the same thing always seems to happen.

Once the Japanese person realizes that I am right, they will start
speaking about the problem at a higher level than I can comprehend and
then they will try to claim that I don't speak Japanese and therefore
must be wrong.  All I can do is reiterate clearly what is really
certain and perhaps most importantly mark my speech as being as polite
as I can make it.

This basic pattern probably happens in every second language context.