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Many thanks to #GaijinTwitter for your thoughts on being #呼び捨て'd as a foreign barbarian. Seems to be mostly split between "It's rude" & "It's not an issue", w/ a big side of "WTF is yobisute?"
Also just for those who're wondering, here's the reason I brought this up... 1/6
Also just for those who're wondering, here's the reason I brought this up... 1/6
1) I (45/M/American) work as an expat engineer here in Tokyo at a major electronics manufacturer.
2) I've been in this position a little over 2 1/2 years & added up, have spent almost 1/4 my life in Japan.
3) I speak / write / read in Japanese 99.5% of the time at work
2/6
2) I've been in this position a little over 2 1/2 years & added up, have spent almost 1/4 my life in Japan.
3) I speak / write / read in Japanese 99.5% of the time at work
2/6
4) While it's a bit weird when my US colleagues refer to me as "Ben-san" as some kind of Japanese whisperer, I couldn't care less about honorifics if somebody is speaking with me in English.
3/6
3/6
5) We have 1 of the most diverse groups in the company, with staff from Italy, China, Thailand & Ethiopia, as well as me, the American
6) There's 1 salty mid-level manager from Osaka (バリバリ関西人) who will refer to the Chinese Ph.D. as -kun & the Thai engineer as -san
4/6
6) There's 1 salty mid-level manager from Osaka (バリバリ関西人) who will refer to the Chinese Ph.D. as -kun & the Thai engineer as -san
4/6
7) At the same time, he's consistently yobisute'd the Ethiopian guy and myself the entire time I've been here.
8) Some Japanese colleagues (including 1 from Osaka) have noticed this as well and kind of cringe when he does it.
5/6
8) Some Japanese colleagues (including 1 from Osaka) have noticed this as well and kind of cringe when he does it.
5/6
9) This isn't any kind of big dramatic issue...more like a tiny thing that's just annoying. In fact, it's frustrating that it annoys me at all.
10) Thanks for reading this far!
6/6
10) Thanks for reading this far!
6/6
