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I'm doing one of my stints away from home staying in a Youth Hostel at the moment, and I'm sharing a room with a couple of very decent Japanese chaps. Thing is, I got up this morning and one of them was still fast asleep... wearing a face mask. I've seen them wearing face masks in the street on news clips, but I thought that was to do with polution. Apart from my socks though, the air here seems pretty clean to me.
Is this a common thing for them to do, do you know, or is this guy just paranoid about catching a cold or something?
I know there are a lot of Japanese experts on here, so I thought I'd ask.
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quote:Originally posted by Kanye West: not catching colds, but preventing the spread of colds if you have one.
Another option, true. I did have a chat with him last night though and he didn't appear to have a cold. And he wasn't wearing a mask while we were talking face-to-face, which is when I'd have thought germ spreading in either direction would be most likely. Maybe I should just ask him. But that might be really insulting.
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quote:But, having said that, the Japanese people rarely, if ever, touch each other. They bow rather than shake hands, and display little to no physical contact.
The first thing I did was shake the poor guy's hand! No wonder he put a face mask on. He's probably preparing himself for a lingering death.
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we can only pray for universal cleansing, to finally rid this suffering mother of her putrid, cannibalising offspring. Bring on the white light of purification
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quote:Originally posted by dang65: The first thing I did was shake the poor guy's hand! No wonder he put a face mask on. He's probably preparing himself for a lingering death.
I wouldn't worry about it. Contrary to what you may read elsewhere, the Japanese are a very touchy-feely bunch. When you meet one, they may bend slightly at the waist toward you. The expected response is not to bow in return, rather they are inviting you to grasp their face with both hands and plant a friendly kiss on their forehead. For close acquaintances and friends, as in someone you've shared sleeping quarters with, it's acceptable to substitute a full kiss on the mouth for the forehead.
This has been an excerpt from Froopy's Top Travel Tips. Please stay tuned for tomorrow's installment about making yourself welcome in Saudi Arabia. (Did you know the Saudis are fervent masseuses? So go ahead and show them the tired soles of your shoes, and just watch how fast they respond with a good foot massage!)
-------------------- Give 'em .0139 fathoms and they'll take 80 chains. Posts: 3201
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So that's why I never had any luck with the Japs! They were too afraid of catching cold. Bring on the Mothernaturepocalypse I say, wipe the uptight bastards out. And the rest of us.
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When I first read dang's post I was picturing a 'face mask' like this: and was imaging blokes sitting around discussing pore minimisation and stuff. Ah well, nevermind, as you were.
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It's not just the Japs either, facemasks were in abundance in both Thailand and Cambodia when I was out there recently. I could understand it for road sweepers and the like because Cambodia in particular is a very dusty place, but it seemed to be a fairly random cross-section of people wearing them.
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