Paris Syndrome

I’m a weeaboo, according to my nephew, because I’ve played some Japanese video games.  He added me as a friend on Steam and keeps sending me dumb messages filled with current terms so overused that they’ve become meaningless, like that one.

Anyway, he’s more of a weeaboo than I am, as he actually knows Japanese (his mother is Chinese but worked in Japan for a while so he has to learn both languages).  My Japanese extends to introducing myself, but if the conversation goes beyond that I’m kind of screwed.  I have a few books and bookmarks for writing purposes, but I’m afraid it rarely ever sticks with me as I’ve little opportuinity to use it in real life these days.

With my psychology knowledge however, I could talk a little bit about Paris Syndrome, which is I suppose best decribed as severe culture shock most noted among Japanese tourists visiting Paris. 
Professor Hiroaki Ota, a Japanese psychiatrist working in France,

coined the term.  Apparently Japanese media tends to focus on Paris as a place of culture, learning and beauty where everyone is a peace loving artist wearing high fashion.  Unfortunately when people visit the real Paris they’ll find it’s… well. pretty much just like most large cities: crowded, noisy, smelly and dirty.  Other contributing factors may be that the Japanese are famously formal and polite, and the average Parisian is… is not like that at all.  Factor in the jet lag as well, and the result is about twenty Japanese citizens have to be repatriated every year.  It’s not a huge number, really.  It’s not like every Japanese tourist in Paris is bound to flip out and go on a rampage, but the syndrome has gotten enough publicity that the Japanese embassy has a helpline just in case.

So that’s the most weeaboo-ish post I’m going to make for a while.  I hope my nephew liked it.