American idiots
I was at the bar the other night with some other English teachers and a Japanese friend, and we were chatting away as usual when the Japanese friend said, "You know, it's not fair. You guys go to Japan and all you do is speak English all the time. When I lived in America I couldn't speak Japanese."

We all laughed about this, but he continued. "No, seriously. I was in Wal-Mart with another Japanese friend, and we were talking to each other, and a lady said to us, 'This is America. You should speak English.' So I said, 'Yes, I can speak English as well, but when I'm talking to another Japanese person, it makes more sense to speak in Japanese.' But she was so upset about it I couldn't believe it."

The other American and I could only shrug and say, "Yes, we do have those kind of people."

The thing that really bugs me about this story is it is not the first time I've heard it. It seems like just about every Japanese friend I know who has lived in America has at least one "Speak English you're in America" story like this.

But besides the standard "Speak English you're in America" story, some people return from America with even worse stories. I've heard of one Japanese friend on an exchange program in Tennessee who was attacked and beat up in what appears to have been a random racially motivated attack. When I was told the story, all I could really do was just shrug and say, "Oh, well, the South, of course."

Another friend was in America and saw "Pearl Harbor" in the theaters, and upon leaving the movie theater had several people glare at her and her other Japanese friend.

I suppose I hardly need to say that no one around here ever tells me "This is Japan, speak Japanese." And no one has tried to attack me, or hold me personally responsible for World War II. But you know, America, country of idiots.