All, I must say that lately a lot of people have complained about how some others (not me, yet) have responded to their posts/comments within a post. I haven't seen much that was actually "rude" or uncalled for... I did see a ton of SARCASM, but nothing rude. I think the point that is being missed is there is a lot of ignorance out there. (People, ignorance is not a rude word either...it defines someone that is not educated in a certain topic). I, personally, find it amazing how many people move to Yokosuka and continue to mispronounce "YO KO SKA" whereas they say "YO KO SUE KA"... Or as previously discussed talking about one location and then mentioning a totally different location. If you were in Dallas, Texas and started talking about the Fort Worth Stockyards being in Dallas someone would rip you a new arse. At least here we just use slight sarcasm to show how that wasn't an appropriate response. I actually sat down with gbeckwith recently and had a few (ok a lot) of beers and talked about this website a lot. Both of us agreed that we weren't here to be "asses", but rather wanted to provide a ton of information that we both hold to the community that is seeking it. There are a lot of others on this site that also have a lot to contribute... I guess what I am saying is, "let us express ourselves in our way". Sarcasm isn't rude...often misunderstood, but not rude. If I ever personally offend anyone, please let me know and I'll apologise for it. But please also look at the comment deeply and ask yourself "is this really offensive or am I being bleak?"

Wow...I put the above post in nice looking paragraphs...what happened to them?

You may of been in HTML mode when you typed. You can always go back and click EDIT to correct the formatting.

There is a difference between sarcastic and "holier than thou art". And my Japanese student pronounces it YO-KOS-KA as well. I'll let him know he's wrong. (I'm being sarcastic)

I've heard Yokosuka pronounced many different ways. I try to use the version that is pronounced on the train...stilll working on it!

Hmmm... I feel compelled to contribute to this, for some odd reason. You're right, I don't always mean to come off as an ass, but sometimes it's just the way I word things, sometimes coupled with the way people may misinterpret things. Adam knows me personally, he can tell you that sometimes I don't always say things in the way that I mean them.

Hey KeithJ, I understand. However, I know I am a smart ass. I hope it sounds like it! Just kidding. I too am misunderstood in the lines of text I type. I try to be nice, but deep down inside I really have much more to say than "nice job" or "nice place we live in". I am living in a foreign country with my fellow countrypeople and I have my concerns. That is what this website is about, right?

Adam knows me personally, he can tell you that sometimes I don't always say things in the way that I mean them.

Trust me.. Keith was 100x worse than he is to date. When he first joined, I was shocked at the things he came across with on the forums. He has toned it down, and I have talked with him about it.. I am not trying to regulate people. I know people are people, and thats the good part about the site, is that you get all sides of the personality chart.

I know that we have already had 1 upset member, get frustrated, because she felt she was being picked on through the forums. She is not a member, and I have had to delete her profile.

When you rant, rant, but dont name call, or downgrade anyone. You can say how you feel, or what you believe in, but when you go after someone intentionally its crossing the line.

I think we sometimes miss the reason why this site was developed. It was not to create enemies, it was to bring the community together, in a way, that I saw there was a need.

You can see its taking off in the right direction, with all the useful information, and resources those reporting personnel are able to gather, from just 1 or 2 questions.

I appreciate everyones support in trying to bring this site to a league of its own in Japan.. thanks again..

That's exactly what I get from your site, Adam. I have been addited all day since I signed up last night to the posts and comments. I finally feel like I can share common information with others. It can be quite isolating at times here in Japan. As much as I love these people I don't speak their language nor do I understand their mindset. It's nice to have help. Thanks.

I'm sure that most of the time, most of the comments are NOT meant to come off as being an a@@. But there are times when you just want to complain. Just to b^$#% and NOT have someone throw it back in your face how freaking AWESOME every aspect of Japan is. Because there are some of us who don't feel that way. I have really enjoyed my time here, don't get me wrong. But there are things that are done/said/implied, ect here in Japan that I don't agree with.
Just because you've been here for a while, doesn't mean that I can't be upset about there being no milk in the mini mart. Or it being ok to be felt up in the train during rush hour by a drunk nasty "suit" or my daughter being shoved to the ground off the train and elevator by the obnoxiously polite Japanese. Have I had good service here? Yes, but I have had good service in the States too. I have also been completely ignored here, so I'm not sure where under the heading of PROFESSIONAL that would fall...
I'm glad you have found a place you love, your home. But Japan is not my home, not my culture. And while I can admire certain aspects of living here, it is foreign to me and I don't understand a lot. That being said, I don't think it should be too hard for the NEX to get a freaking calendar and have milk available during Japanese holidays.

Yup... and I don't believe in a society where we can all be individuals and there be no conflict. Like Adam said, I'm a lot better now than I was before, but nobody's perfect. Everyone has their own different point of view to contribute to something and naturally, when you have things like that, there will be differing opinions, or someone didn't like the way somebody else said something, and you have conflict. As long as we're mature adults and are able to handle things as such, everything should be fine. If someone wants to get all pissy-pants and cancel their membership to the site, then that's on them. That's their individual reaction to something.

Mehhh. I'm might not have much say, but I've been lurking forever and just recently stopped that, and don't get me wrong, it just seems like some of the people who get angry are... I don't know, not familiar with internet boards/forums/groups. This site is really, really helpful and the snark does come out... only a couple times has it, yeah, been down right rude. But compared to 90% of every other site I belong to we have pretty good manners. And you've got to understand, we're all very different people and the only thing we have in common is living in Japan and the Navy.

I think it comes down to people not understanding, or getting across, the sarcasm correctly and it's interpreted as being rude or a little stale. Sometimes people just give a cut and dry answer and I've seen people get mad! Jeez. On the net people come across differently and "act" differently as they would to you in person. You're not there to read their face or the tone of their voice.

I'm having a hard time wording this because I'm not meaning to demean anyone... but what I've learned is: Don't take anything seriously. Swear words happen. If someone is saying something completely stupid/rude/wrong, you have the right to call them out. Just as they have the right to defend themselves, don't take it personally! And most importantly, people are going to have very different opinions, and they're allowed to express them, you're allowed to disagree and vis versa... etc etc etc. Lol.

Anyway tl;dr.

But there are things that are done/said/implied, ect here in Japan that I don't agree with.

Flyer, Please dont feel that everything has to be positive, but the truth. I want people to feel open as long as it complies with OPSEC policies. I dont feel you should name call your chain of command or anything like that, but still everything DOESNT have to be "flowers and rainbows" if you get my drift.. I dont mind negative things, because your never always going to be perfect. There are always going to be those that absolutely hate Japan. Thats fine. Tell us why, and move on.. There is nothing wrong with your beliefs.. We may want to understand why or what happened for us to fully understand your gripe, but by no means do I want everyone to fear posting information because they will be bashed on because its negative.. Say the truth, and share your experiences.. You never know. 4 years down the road, your story may help a few people going through the same situation. This site will be a resource for YEARS AND YEARS to come. Imagine if you were reporting to Japan and had all these stories to read through 3 or 4 years ago.. I sure wish I did 9 years ago.. But there wasnt anything consolidating everything that went on. Thats why I hope to bring out the good, and the bad in Japan, and share the stories with the world..

Perhaps Elizabeth's words are the exact reason I am even posting anything at all. This site has a common thread to all of us. Yes, we will not all be of the same opinion, but the fact still remains that we all live in a foreign counrty and it is not always easy. This site seems to be more aimed at helping one another than some social meeting point or whatever. I've tried other chat rooms and forums- most are degrading and obsence. Who needs that? It's nice to have local people with the same concerns as me talking about it and working through it. Yes, the Navy is common thread, but the reality is we are humans trying to survive in a strange land. I never knew my neighbor until the hurricane struck my town. Amazing the friends I made that day.

@flyer, your student is pronouncing it correctly. Not to sound snide, but did you read my post or just the second part? My post stated that there is no "SUE" in Yokosuka.

Alot of the responses here are about the posts made (no milk in the mini-mart, people pushing down on trains, etc)... My post was totally concerning OUR (meaning those that respond so if you respond YOUR) responses to those posts. I agree with whomever said it above that you aren't able to see their faces to read the response. I'll start out by saying 30% of what I say will be sarcasm...

I want each and everyone of you to continue posting your questions...and I would like to continue helping out when I know the answers. If you are just complaining I usually leave it alone, but sometimes a complaint might actually be out of your misunderstanding the situation you were in...and it might be that you were in a situation that needed a complaint. *(I hope that made sense)*

And not to turn this totally around on you all, but did you realise what forum this was created in? I posted this in "Rant About Something" which is a place I could go and just complain... Things that make you go hmmmml... (again that was sarcasm)

I know this isn't really on topic, but I'd rather hear someone say Yo-ko-su-ka than Yo-ku-ska. That really irritates me. My husband knows better and he still slips into it. The first mispronunciation at least makes sense according to English phonics, but the second makes no sense because it's not even spelled like that.

/randomness

@Adina

I HATE it when people pronounce it Yo KU ska!!!! BLARGH!!! It's just like sudoku and su DU ku... JLRJAHKFHGKLADLKGH!!! It's not that hard to pronounce these words!!

Agreed: Randomness...

@wilson

It looked like you said the correct way was yoko SUE ka.. that's how i read it, and i had to read it again. the whereas portion got us. I understand flyer's mistake.

Odd... I figured the "whereas" pointed correctly (I still do, but will try to refrain from its use in the future).

Better yet: yU-ku-ska. yuck

I was going to say who cares how different people pronounce Yokosuka, but obviously many people do. I am sure you are not irritating the mispronouncer as much as they are irritating you. Just take a second of your time and correct the next person you hear mispronouncing and let it roll off your shoulder. : )

In determining whether a remark is snide, rude, offensive etcetera, perhaps we may obtain some guidance from the following famous Supreme Court Justice statement.

“ I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that. [Emphasis added.] ”

— Justice Potter Stewart, concurring opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio 378 U.S. 184 (1964), regarding possible obscenity in The Lovers.

Japanese 101- The name Yokosuka ie. 横須賀　or よこすか　if written in phonetic hiragana is rendered Yo Ko Su Ka in Romaji (Roman script). Following general rules for pronunciation of Japanese words, the "Su" within a word is pronounced by dropping the "u" so it becomes Yokoska.

OBTW in order to see the Japanese script, you'll need to enable Japanese Language support in your browser.

hell ill call it Yokosucka

Yococksuka?

HAHAHA!

This is my favorite post I have read..

Cant we all just try laughing, and not get upset..

The internet is full of characters. You just have to know to laugh and smile.

Ok, my two cents. I may have, on occassion, taken offense to some posts that are over the top and derogatory to a category of people and posted as much, and it has been more than one category. I think if you are ranting in the ranting section, then it's appropriate. I am still of the opinion that if you are in the informational areas of the site, posts should maintain a certain amount of decorum. That being said, if a person chooses to disagree and posts such, it should never be considered appropriate to make personal attacks. If you can dish it out, you should be wearing a big enough pair of panties to take it. Granted, it's a website, nobody has a face, so people will be people. But, if I choose to call you out for berating me or my opinion that's my right as well. I love the site and think it's incredibly informative and for the most part hugely amusing. I'm pretty sarcastic myself and enjoy reading and fencing with someone who has literary skills that are better than mine. It's all fun. But, some of this stuff is just rediculous. Speak of what you know, don't insinuate things you know nothing about.

@tulipsonly, I thought this thread was dead, but thanks for reading...

I agree that most of the personal attacks should be left out. Disagreeing with someone has nothing wrong with it until someone takes offence in the other's opinion and then finds it time to attack them. Kind of immature to say the least, but I don't think we will ever be free of those types. Some on this site find it humorous to add chide comments. I don't understand those types so usually when I see their names on the post I don't bother reading them. I just skip to the next in line.

@Wilson, agreed. See, even the perverbial old dog can learn new tricks. It's that nurturing Mother Hen in me that makes me do it I swear!

I thought it was the crabby old woman.

Hippie ..... LOL. if you only knew. And damn, hate a girl for trying to gracefully concede.... I don't believe I'll be doing that again.

That's the spirit!

No, no hate there and it wasn't pointed at, just that this thread went straight into holding hands and singing koombaya in 3 seconds flat. 

God Forbid people get happy once in a while. Better watch for me on base. I'll be wearing a long flowy broom skirt and hemp sandles, and I carry my tamborine everywhere I go...... My hubby, he's straight goth, we make quite the pair.

*snort* Oh gawd I would so PAY to see that.

I love having a place where people can post thier opinions and thoughts. It's awesome Sometimes we do have to dish out the bad stuff.

And I do hate it when people say Yokosuka wrong. In japanese, sometimes the "u" is silent. Thus why it's "Yo kos ka". Just like in "desu" it's not "de sue" it's "des". People can say it the other way I guess, it'll just show their ignorance. And I always correct people who say it wrong. I mean come on, don't you get made when people say your home town wrong? I lived in "Willamette Valley in Oregon" not "Will a met ee Vaaaa leee in O ri gen"

I never got why people around the base would say Yokosuka incorrectly either. Everyone says "Yokohama" the correct way. They both start out with the same 4 letters, so why is it that people say "Yo-KU-suka" instead of "Yo-KO-su-ka"? I never hear anyone call Yokohama "Yo-KU-hama." OK.....that's my gripe for the night. The end.

when Fukuda was Japanese prime minister, president Bush always called him just prime minister.

I heard that for american, "Fukuda" sound like "f***ed her" former prime minister Aso sound like "ass hole " 　　

LMAO, Taka. The thing about Aso is quite true. I always got the "WHAT?" when people were unfamiliar with the PM.