Wednesday, October 7, 2009

A random observation

When meeting new people in Japan, I've noticed that sometimes one of the first things they notice about me is my piercings. I have 7 in each ear, 00 gauge plugs in the first holes, my eyebrow, and a labret piercing. I am always met with a look of curiosity at first, then fear. They ask me "itakunai?" "doesn't it hurt?" I'm not sure if they're honestly curious if I am in a constant state of pain with my piercings or if they mean "did it hurt when you got it done?" like Americans will ask. I'm not really offended by it, but I've answered the question so many times I don't really have to think about it anymore. I guess I'm just a little bit taken aback by their audacity and straight-forwardness in asking me about them.

1 comment:

  1. One thing that I think is interesting about what you wrote is that Japanese people are usually thought to be shy and reserved. In this instance, the questioning comes across as rather bold, doesn't it!

    ReplyDelete