I admit im a few days away but the thread seems to have changed!

From a social issue that was mentioned.

It is now "whitey" against the world.

Give MissMisa a break and if you happen to be over the age of 14 make an argument beside "the evil imperialistic british" or "guilt ridden white man".....it dosent hold under scrutiny!

In the words of Alan Partidge, I shall put an end to all discussion. (or rather not, on a forum). My 2 cents anyway (although I prefer Pounds and Pence :mtongue: ):

Racism is the same whatever race, creed, religion etc. you are. In my view, though, racism against white people isn't as documented in the media as racism against ethnic minorities. Discrimination, as well, falls into this category e.g. Personally, for wearing glasses (in school) or wearing a Celtic football shirt to show I support them, or a comment that a few 'chavs' (we call them 'neds' up here) outside the Job Centre (unemployment office) because I was wearing a T-shirt that said 'Japan' on it...

hey, there's your case.. They were predudiced against the minority of white people who wear T-shirts labled "Japan".

Honestly, we have people who sue over things with less than that here in the states all the time.

The comment was "Who supports Japan anyway?", and was at the time of the World Cup. I've never taken any notice of wee ar****les like that, so didn't bother my a**e with them

Sorry for the late reply, and if I'm being too nosy just let me know ;) but ...

Too poor to leave? I'm having a hard time imagining this. I left home at 16, with 50 dollars, and worked a to pay for stuff and save for school.
I know it's hardly a good life to work for tuition while trying to keep life balanced alone, but if your experiences are hardly as bad as anything I'd experienced I'd leave and take the financial hardships over the emotional beating any day.

I'm honestly not trying to be hard on you, it just feels to me like you're taking the more difficult road to your destination.

(PS, I also came to Japan with 1000 dollars in my pocket after the plane ticket, no job and no home, things always work out somehow)

Seems the best way to go. I think you could build some form of list (e.g. 1. find shelter, 2. find job......)

I'm planning on it after I have my degree. At least I'd have some form of qualification to get a job...although still in a similar boat to what you've explained

I see what you're saying but I'm not sure I agree, hear me out a sec:

If I were a parent, and spoke only English, and my daughter spoke English and lets say Thai, and she met a Thai guy who spoke little to no English, would it be racist for me to say that her marrying him will create an awkwardness in the family, or to put it differently, it would be much nicer for everyone in the family if her husband spoke English.

I'm not sure that I see opposition to a language barrier as a racist thing. In the above situation I personally wouldn't oppose the marriage but I wouldn't be upset at someone who did, certainly not call them racist, maybe selfish though.

Culture would just be the same but to a lesser extent, and while it might be selfish as hell to want to associate with the same culture for the sake of ease, it's not a prejudice.

The 1 year left on uni is the real reason in my opinion. I changed unis after 2nd year and I had to make up a lot of courses that didn't transfer over, it sucked, so I empathize with that.
You're right it's not wise for a chick to do the things I've done, that's a separate issue altogether but I think with a little more money, say 3000$ instead of 50$ then I think it could be done.
Friends and family is a tough one, some people have difficulty with that, I make lots of friends quickly wherever I go and keep my old friends relatively well, whenever I visit wherever I used to live it's like we pick up where we left off. I've moved so many times, I think I actually enjoy the whole process of making new friends.

I sincerely hope that you don't let any of those reasons hold you back after you finish uni, get a job elsewhere for sure.

You say it's not a ghetto hellhole but I find it very hard for anyone to justify living in a place where there might not feel safe. It's like self persecution, in vain. Aside from the almost done school part, but in a year it goes from smart to foolish to be there I think.

I must admit you're the first person I've ever seen who supports Japan... well... outside Japan.

And was that the only thing you were showing of your Japan obsession? Because I know employers would find it a bit... offputting if you were talking about it non stop too.

That's true in theory, but in practise it's very hard for people to escape these areas. In the UK most areas seem to be like how Misa has described . . . it's not safe to go out at night, some places you wouldn't want to walk alone even in the day, and anti-social behaviour is a huge issue. There are some very nice and very safe areas, but these places will cost a fortune to live in, and how many people can afford that? If they could afford to live elsewhere then they would have already done so.

I really and truly hope that Misa doesn't let anything hold her back, and that she does very well in life and is happy, she deserves that, but it's actually very hard for many people to leave where they are. I think Misa's reasons are very valid ones, and I think it's somewhat a bit naive to say that it's foolish for people to stay in a place they dislike. Not everyone has the oppurtunity or resources to move.