Hello.

I am a gaijin. I come from Europe, and speak so little Japanese, that I actually take pride in writing the title of this blog in kanji.

Since living in Japan is full of awkward, funny or plain disturbing experiences, I would like to share them with those who have the hots for Japan through a safe distance of thousands of kilometres, but nevertheless want to get some inside scoop.

And of course, those, who are going through a similar period of gaijin-hood and seek to share their exciting experiences. Like, when I’ll be writing a post “Why no one shaves in Japan”, perhaps you’ll be the one nodding enthusiastically, saying “YES!!!YES!!! I noticed that too!!!! Let me tell you my story…”, which I am very curious to hear! Afterall, being a gaijin in Japan at times makes you long for some sort of AA type of group counselling, right?

Well, and at the end of each post I’ll include some translations of the too-cool-for-school phrases, for those less familiar with the local slang:

Gaijin (kanji: 外人; hiragana: がいじん) is a shorter and slightly slangy version of the word “gaikokujin” (kanji: 外国人; hiragana: がいこくじん) meaning “foreigner”. Often heard in combination with “baka” (kanji:馬鹿 (means :horse + deer); hiragana:ばか) meaning “idiot, fool”. I say that loudly to my gaijin friends when they struggle with their suica cards…and watch the Japanese reactions. Few can keep a straight face! Some even look mortified. They probably think I read their minds.