Reply #46: I have done it. [View All]

[Bonobo]

In remote parts of Japan where I lived.

You get the look. You know what it is like.

You are unable to rise above being the "Other".

You struggle for others to see what lies inside you, but you learn how very, very hard that is to achieve.

You go through many stages.

Your description was perfect. You get it.

On the rare occasions that I saw another foreigner, we were often uncomfortable with recognizing each other, because to admit to being friendly to that other foreigner simply on the basis of them being a foreigner was to admit that you, also, were a foreigner -and at one stage I remember not wanting to do that.

But eventually you acquiesce to that and move on to the other stages...
Ah, Thailand I see. Lovely people I understand.. Makes you embarrassed to be an American often, doesn't it? They are such better people, no? More emotionally mature, Buddhistic, whatever you want to say... No one reading this will understand if they have not had the chance...