hey guys how's it going my name is
Makayla and I live in Japan um and most
of you know that uh because I live in
Japan people often ask me what are the
pros and cons of living in Japan as a
foreigner hi and to be honest there's
really not much to complain about
I'm actually quite happy living in Japan
so hold on you know fairly well here hey
very few things that drive me crazy
hi about Japan or Japanese culture hey
except that it goes down you're doing
that thing where you keep interjecting
when I'm trying to talk
chia-chia codec chant okie did it to
show coconut oil well it's annoying yeah
yeah Cochino on a guitar - I know if
there's one thing that kind of drives me
nuts about living in Japan it's this izg
Isaac er phrases or responses that a
Japanese listen there gives during a
conversation to let the speaker know
that they're paying attention but this
habit can come as somewhat of a surprise
to western speakers because for us it's
considered kind of rude to interrupt
someone when they're speaking and as a
foreigner sometimes it feels like when
people are responding too often to my
conversations it's like they're trying
to rush me along or get me to hurry up
and finish my story uh-huh uh-huh okay
yeah uh-huh oh I see yeah okay uh-huh in
Japan it's quite the opposite and it
sure is the speaker that you are up to
speed with what they're saying
some examples of Japanese izg are hi hmm
so disco soul is Nick Solem da
Manju dad hey who saw not a hold up all
of these are pretty common responses
that a listener gives during a
conversation in Japan the best way I can
suggest to get used to it is to look up
conversations on YouTube and kind of
listen to the mannerisms and the way
that people respond when they're having
a conversation in Japanese one common
mistake that foreigners often make with
ICG is that when a Japanese person
responds with sodus in that or height
it doesn't necessarily mean they're
saying yes or that's right it means that
they're just listening to you it's not
necessarily a reflection of their
opinion so be careful another common way
that Japanese people show attentiveness
in a conversation is to follow up your
statements with a question you know that
um tomé alleged on that uh Mitsui green
boundary that it is change it to coast
and all done up here check the hosts and
hold on this gun yes just like this it's
very common in Japanese conversations
for the listener to follow up a story
with a question that could be answered
if they'd listened to the story which
they have but they're showing that
they've listened by asking a question
that is painfully obvious and finally
and this sort kind of gets to that point
of frustration is when you look like I
do
as in non-japanese as in white as in
from North America these follow-up
questions can be completely unrelated to
the story at all and totally 100%
related to the fact that you are a
foreigner you know let she go Toa
perronnette Mindanao Hawaii GI dick
Kaizen don't avert a beer in Honduras ah
ah ah nan da chota be free so Donato
boat s own enemy Akita Raza um imagine
ik their tax and reach millions at
syllogistic taro what kind of mochi not
there hey guys I don't have it in this
car so Chi well this is something that
tends to happen quite frequently I
wouldn't say it's because people are
trying to be mean is it is Japanese
culture to respond to a conversation
frequently to show that you're listening
but sometimes I feel like the way that
people respond to me is different than
the way that they would respond to a
Japanese person just to let you know
sometimes we want to have a real
conversation with you and have it not be
about how we are not Japanese how about
you have you ever been surprised or
shocked by customs in another country
that didn't quite align with yours what
were they and how did you learn to
overcome them yeah it's all good
thank you for listening I love everybody
don't fight with me
bye