So while in Yokohoma I decided to pay a visit to the Chinatown that was there. I was actually pretty excited to see if I could communicate with them using my crappy Mandarin. Upon leaving the train station I was greeted with a giant entrance way of Chinatown. Stoked, I eagerly enter the gates. However something was wrong with this Chinatown. At first I couldn't put my finger on it until I finally stopped and began listening to the shop owners.
None of them were speaking Chinese, Mandarin or Cantonese. Now you tell me, how on earth can you can have a Chinatown without the CHINESE!!!! This irked me alot. It was explained to me later that if they don't speak Japanese they wouldn't be able to communicate with customers and sell whatever they're selling. I understand that, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't speak Chinese altogether. Back home in the NYC Chinatown, there are plenty of people there that sell goods to Americans, but also aren't afraid to speak Chinese. I eventually coaxed Mandarin out of this older couple that were working at a small store. I'm not sure what threw them off more, that I was black, that I was trying to communicate with them in Chinese or that I was a black guy in Japan trying to communicate with them in Mandarin. It was a spotty conversation but I was desperate to find some actual Chinese people and we ended up having a laugh in the end, I'm pretty sure at my expense.
It's absolutely ridiculous that people have to suppress their own language just to fit into this bubble society. But that subject is rant for another post. Another thing that was missing was the good deals you get at Chinatown and the cheap good food. Here EVERYTHING was expensive. The food, the clothes and the DVD's. I'm not going to tell you how much I spent on dinner, but the price was not right! And I've had waaaaaay better chinese food back home. All in all it wasn't terrible, just not what I expected.
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