wine by the color

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

In my line of work, I have a lot of contact with Japanese people. I find myself nodding and bowing constantly when I speak with them. Is that rude? They do it all the time, but I'm not sure if it's polite to nod and bow if you're not actually Japanese.

posted by jersey girl @ 10:17 AM  

8 Comments:

  • At 6/27/2006 11:55 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    You finally posted something on your blog I can respond to! (Probably because it has nothing to do with Jersey). But no, don't bow to a Japanese person--there is an intricate etiquette in the posture and degree of inclination that a Westerner can't replicate. (I actually took Japanese in high school--sakana o tabemashita is all I remember though.)

     

  • At 6/27/2006 9:57 PM, Blogger Bich said…

    I knew a guy named Sakana Tabemashita. Nice fella. Kind of short.

     

  • At 6/28/2006 2:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    he was a stud, then (if you knew what his name meant).

     

  • At 6/28/2006 10:28 AM, Blogger jersey girl said…

    Huh. Then I must seem quite rude to these folks. I did notice yesterday that I do more nodding than bowing. Perhaps that's not as bad?

     

  • At 6/28/2006 11:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    You'll never work in Tokyo again, that's for sure.

     

  • At 6/28/2006 11:43 AM, Blogger frank said…

    i think they like it when you say, "me so horny! me so horny! me love you long time!"

    or, maybe they don't. i'm not sure. let me know how it goes.

     

  • At 7/05/2006 3:31 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I live in Asia (tho not Japan) and I have given up trying to please any and every culture here. Don't let Thais see your bare feet, don't let your dog approach an Indonesian, don't give someone Chinese '4' of anything, add 'san' to Japanese names, etc: it's all a bit much. I've found that foreigners aren't really held accountable if they inadvertently break one of the rules anyway.

    (*One exception is that you must take off your shoes when you go into the home of someone from Asia - even in the States, I reckon.)

     

  • At 7/06/2006 12:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    In China, if you want to forcefully express your wish that someone stop bothering you, you say "Booh Yah!"

    Ya didn't know Stuart Scott was Chinese-influenced, didja?

     

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