I have never been one for confrontation. Call it middle child syndrome
or a naturally peaceful disposition or just plain cowardace, but when something gets on my nerves I almost always hold my
tongue. Sounds perfect for living in Japan, the passive aggressive
capital of the world, does it not?
Chigaou!*
I hadn't realized it, but the extreme passivity of Japanese culture is too much, even for me. All the complaints that I have bottled up have begun to vent themselves...
without my permission.
Just in the last month I have snapped on at least three occasions for
offenses ranging from the extremely menial (persistent reminders in a facebook game) to the more peeving (America stereotypes) to the truly obnoxious (extremely loud neighborhood announcements at 7 a.m. on a Saturday. Screaming back at loudspeakers doesn't make me insane, does it?).
In almost all of these cases, I would normally just suck it up, keep the
peace, say nothing... but there's a monster growing inside me. And if I
keep feeding it all of my frustrations, irritations, and
disappointments, I'm afraid it will take over completely.
I need guidance. How can I remain culturally sensitive and peacefully disposed without
totally losing my marbles? Because, at this rate, the next sweet little granny who pats my belly and
asks when I am due will be able to examine the contents of my stomach
from the inside.
 |
| ...'cause I'm gonna eat her. |
The End.
*Chigaou is a Japanese expression which literally means "it's different" but is used in place of "no" because it's less confrontational... See what I did there?
