a reason why gaijins are so popular

[Exidez]

i dont know if anyone has herd this butwhen i was at small school camp (many differant high school students came) my home room teacher noticed that i was very very popular with the girls. This is in Japan by the way.

anyway when i was riding home with my home room teacher he share with me an image of why i am so popular.. i coulnt quite understand it all but it went something like this..

He said something about a prince who had a white horse and if a woman rode this horse she will be made into a snow prinsess.... ???

i have probably made some mistakes in the understanding of this image he was taching me. But he said that was the reason why everyone loves you.

Has anyone else herd a story which involes this kind thing??
I want to hear the correct translation with it.

[Ewok85]

Variety is the spice of life (were different, thats simply it, your a walking novelty)

[Maciamo]

Gaijin may be popular because of a misunderstanding on the kanji, if you write it like this 外神 that does not mean "outsider" anymore, but "god(s) from beyond".

[DragonChan]

I figure I have people coming up to talk to me for two reasons:

1) They like to touch my hair

2) They like to say the line 'nihongo jouzu' and there is nobody else nearby that it can 'apply' to.

I really wish they would come up to talk to me for something more substantial than to tell my hair is pretty or that my face is small. I even had one girl pull out a ruler and measure it. (It isn't my fault she has a big head XD)

[Maciamo]

Originally Posted by DragonChan

I really wish they would come up to talk to me for something more substantial than to tell my hair is pretty or that my face is small. I even had one girl pull out a ruler and measure it. (It isn't my fault she has a big head XD)

That's a typical Japanese mania about having a small face. First, I didn't know how to feel when I was told the same (was that an insult ?), but I realised that Japanese see it as a compliment. The problem is that they say "atama ga chichai", which translates as having having a small "head" and not face. They were also referring to the look of the back of my head, which looked smaller compared to Asian heads. The reason is that the shape is considerably different (longer and more rounded for Caucasians, and flat and wide for Asians).

I took the initiative to measure and compare my Japanese friends' head circumference, distance from hairline to chin and head width, with mine. It appeared that all dimensions were bigger for me. The reason they think it is smaller is that Caucasian heads are 1) longer (from hairline to chin), and 2) Caucasian features (eyebrows, eye depth, nose, etc.) are more prominent, giving their face more relief and making it look smaller (less wide). I was surprised however to find that my head circumference was also a few centimeters more than theirs. Anybody has had similar experiences (and what is your head circumference, length and width) ?

[Ewok85]

Just the usual novelty stuff... "wow! brown hair!" "oooo, long eyelashes" "your so tall!" (wtf, im 170cm, i am faaaaaar from tall)

The one that ticks me the most is "your japanese is so good!", even if you only know 1 work of japanese you'll get this reaction

[kirei_na_me]

Just like Maciamo, I got the weirdest 'compliments' from Japanese people. High nose, long eyelashes, small lips, 'sharp' face, white skin, big hips and breasts(which they're not by manyAmerican standards and I never would've thought a compliment before ), back of my head round instead of flat, small/skinny ANKLES(hahaha!), etc. I felt like a specimen under a microscope at times.

When we first started dating, my husband took a picture of my profile and sent it to his family. Talking about weird...

[TwistedMac]

Originally Posted by Ewok85

"wow! brown hair!"

I have absolutely no idea why i read that as "wow! brainhair!" at first.. was like "must be some sort of joke for those that know more than i do.."

[PopCulturePooka]

Originally Posted by Ewok85

The one that ticks me the most is "your japanese is so good!", even if you only know 1 work of japanese you'll get this reaction

GAWD that ticks me off.
Say sumimasen or something once and you're suddenly fluent in Japanese and apparantly able to have a conversation, even when you state many times you can't. At all.

[Nezumi]

maybe if they ride you -snicker- they'll be a queen and a mother. or else they'll be along for the ride in your popularity and sharing in it.

[okaeri_man]

Originally Posted by Maciamo

Gaijin may be popular because of a misunderstanding on the kanji, if you write it like this 外神 that does not mean "outsider" anymore, but "god(s) from beyond".

wishful thinking!!!

[Maciamo]

I also got the compliment of the long eyelash (which I had never realised before, but it may be true, even by Caucasian standard), and the dubious compliment of my hair feeling "the same as a dog". (but Japanese love dogs, so I guess it was a compliment).

[chiquiliquis]

I get a lot of girls telling me my nose is big: Hana dekai desu yo ne... I always understood "dekai" as being more "huge" than big, so I'm never quite sure how to take it... most of them are 13 years old, though... not the biggest of blows to my ego :0)

Originally Posted by Ewok85

Just the usual novelty stuff... "wow! brown hair!" "oooo, long eyelashes" "your so tall!" (wtf, im 170cm, i am faaaaaar from tall)

The one that ticks me the most is "your japanese is so good!", even if you only know 1 work of japanese you'll get this reaction

Thatｴs perfect! At least one people on Earth who donｴt want to kill you only by seeing you for the first time!

Man, I should have been born in Japan

But surely I wouldnｴt get this reaction like you American, Canandian, European or Australian people do there.

[Elizabeth]

Originally Posted by DragonChan

I figure I have people coming up to talk to me for two reasons:

1) They like to touch my hair

2) They like to say the line 'nihongo jouzu' and there is nobody else nearby that it can 'apply' to.

I really wish they would come up to talk to me for something more substantial than to tell my hair is pretty or that my face is small.

He he he....that's my life's dream (and work to make it happen) as well. Not likely, but let us know if anyone does.
On the size issue, I've also had women standing around joking that they feel like apes or monkeys in comparison. All you can do is smile and laugh and try not pulling out a ruler yourself.

[Exidez]

i still dont understand what my home room teacher ment by that white horse stuff.

by the way, they dont say my nose is dekai, they use takai for me...
they also think that my eyelashes are long too. The girls seam to be jealous about that.
When i am at the onsen they they laugh and say "onaka ga deteiru". I am pretty sure this isnt a compliment. They allready know i have gained 10kg since i have been in japan.

[mad pierrot]

Heh, yeah. I have a face that looks like a mule's @ss crack, and yet I've been told by Japanese people that I look like

1. Charlie Sheen
2. Tom Cruise
3. Toby Mcguire



Strange, but good for the ego!

[Elizabeth]

Originally Posted by Exidez

i still dont understand what my home room teacher ment by that white horse stuff.

I suppose it was meant the girls in your class look at (white) foreigners as having powers that by association will make them into princesses.
Snow Princess may be an infamous character out of Japanese folklore as well....that may be a reference worth checking out before taking this too much to heart.

[blade_bltz]

"Orlando Bloom 似てる" - i cant tell if i should take this as a compliment or not....

[Ewok85]

Originally Posted by Exidez

When i am at the onsen they they laugh and say "onaka ga deteiru". I am pretty sure this isnt a compliment. They allready know i have gained 10kg since i have been in japan.

"Your guts hanging out!"

Dunno how you'd gain weight with a typical japanese diet... i lost 10kgs and 8% bodyfat in a year

[sky888]

it's like the westerners old man are crazy over asian young gals...

[jieshi]

I can't stand to think what they will say about my eyelashes geez I already get commented on having lovely long eyelashes here in Australia by the women, what going to happen in Japan? lol

[PopCulturePooka]

Originally Posted by jieshi

I can't stand to think what they will say about my eyelashes geez I already get commented on having lovely long eyelashes here in Australia by the women, what going to happen in Japan? lol

Welcome to hell or heaven, depends how you take it.

I got the long eyelashes stuff back home too.

Here i get girls trying to touch them

[Mike Cash]

Look on the bright side. If they're in touching range of you, you're in touching range of them.

Touch folks back right where they touch you, immediately, and without asking. Some folks won't mind. Some will see it as a sort of "skinship" bonding sort of thing. And a small minority will clue in that if they don't like it, then maybe they ought to give you a little human consideration too.

Originally Posted by Exidez

i still dont understand what my home room teacher ment by that white horse stuff.

Umm... they like white?