Gaidai Phenomena - Gaijin Hunters

So in my blog for posterity (title reference, get it?) I thought it best to make an entry about what the international students have come to refer to as "Gaijin Hunters."

Being the minority is not something 95% of Americans can understand. Regardless of race, if you were born in the US, you are not a minority, racially maybe, but not culturally. In Japan, 98% of the population is Japanese, so, as I've mentioned before, foreigners stick out, and are obviously a large minority of the population, which makes us exciting, particularly to students studying some time of internationally related major! Who can't respect that? However, there's a certain line that can be crossed, and in come the "gaijin hunters."

During the first month of school, Gaidai-sei as we call them, were all over the Center for International Education trying to meet gaijin. We were all grateful because we were just as eager to meet them for many of the same reasons. By the last week of the first month, a distinction began to appear between students who would approach you and talk, genuine interested in your thoughts on Japan and stories about your home country and students who would ask for your Facebook and only talk to you again to show you off like a walking trophy.

A friend of mine had this happen her second week. A Japanese girl she had met texted her and invited her to come to a get-together. Her invitation included "Bring some of your other international friends!" When asked who, she probably received an answer for anyone. Not that this was a particularly malicious statement in anyway; it simply just dulled my friend's sense of personal identity. She couldn't help be feel like nothing but a "gaijin" as if her name didn't even exist. This Japanese girl promptly never saw her again, or sent another message.

Everyone is capable of this phenomena I feel, but this is just something I've experience here at Gaidai. Although it shouldn't stop you from trying to make many Japanese friends, it's just a heads up. These kinds of people will find you and add you on Facebook. Worry about deleting them later after they've not spoken to you since your third week.