"katawa"

[Nightdragon]

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Let's discuss American ignorance towards East Asian culture!

Sup. Honestly they expect me to live over here for two years yet I can't read or write their language, speak it, or understand it. Even with all the briefs they give us on customs around here, I still can't help thinking I'm being an ignorant asshole (baka Gajin i think, stupid foreigner, thats me!) to them.

[Caesius]

I know a Marine stationed in Okinawa (via the internet, of course).

I think for the most part they just stick around with their buddies when going off base or whatever and the locals don't bother them.

[Bara]

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Let's discuss American ignorance towards East Asian culture!

Sup. Honestly they expect me to live over here for two years yet I can't read or write their language, speak it, or understand it. Even with all the briefs they give us on customs around here, I still can't help thinking I'm being an ignorant asshole (baka Gajin i think, stupid foreigner, thats me!) to them.

Well, knowing all that is not specificly required for doing your duty there, but it would be better to have an idea of. Keeping that attitude in mind isn't too bad. After all, you are there for a couple of years for work, while they are there because it's their home. My experience in Germany was that most locals were decent if you could at least tell them in german that you couldn't speak it. (Mein deutsch ist sehr schlecht. It was a very useful phrase for me, even if I can't spell it.) Most locals, frankly, do not have terribly high expectations from foreign soldiers; generaly keeping clothed in public and not crapping in their streets seems to be the average around U.S. military bases around the world. The sad thing is the knucleheads in the military that can't seem to live up to those "high" expectations.

[Exdi]

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Let's discuss American ignorance towards East Asian culture!

Here's your first lesson:

The common surnname Nguyen is pronounced roughly as "new-win", or more accurately something like "nwin," like win but with a quick n-like sound in the front. It is not pronounced "Nuh-GUU-yin" or "Nuh-GUY-en". The G is paractically silent.
However, you might run into one lenient enough to allow "new-yin" (like me)

Also most azns you run into won't be too disappointed or upset if you are a foreigner attempting to understand our customs. Especially azn americans, because we tend to be pretty self-loathing at times.

Lesson ended.