I'm a Latina "Texican" living in Japan. My family has been in Texas for 7 generations now. My ancestry is both from Spain and Mexico. I work in Japan teaching English, but I also speak Japanese, and I learned Chinese in Taiwan last year. My b/f is Taiwanese too :-) I currently live and work in Hokkaido, and already am planning to re-contract with my job for another year. Latinos/as in Japan are pretty rare. I get lots of stares, lots of "what country are you from?", lots of compliments on my eyes, hair, skin, and I think I sometimes catch my male colleagues stealing glimpses at my figure. Lots of people think I am Filipina, but I don't care, I think Filipinas are pretty. My sister in law is Filipina. The women here think my English is beautiful, and are always "giving me face" by complimenting this and that. I have already been offered 3 extra tutoring jobs too. Basically, if you are a Latina, my advice is to carry yourself well here. Show you are educated, mature and cultured. Be well-groomed and professional at all times. Don't start stuff just to be indignant. There is a time for cultural pride, and a time to just try to blend in. Also, don't instigate uncomfortable conversations. Try to be at ease with people and be open and friendly. Try not to judge Japanese people. That goes for any country I think. I have also lived in the UK for 2 years serving in the armed forces, and never really had much trouble with Brits either. Plus, aside from the fact that I am enjoying my time here, in my day to day life, I am very humble, outgoing, and upbeat. I give older people the right of way, offer seats to elderly, try to be nice, try to show a good image of Latinos. I always have a big smile for my coworkers fellow English teachers, and students, and I think a good attitude and a solid personality go a long way. I speak Japanese fluently too, so it helps to show an interest in learning about Japan and Japanese culture/food/language. That will go a long way too. Once I did get the "knows how to salsa dance" label, but that was in Tokyo. And all that happened is someone grabbed me and started dancing with me. It was fun if not a little bizarre! I didn't mind, because...I happen to know how to dance salsa. Go figure! lol!
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