Before you think I hate Argentina let me explain you a thing

It's getting late. I should stay away from blogging. BUT! I want to tell you a story.

The story of my wasted opportunities.

I'm not sorry I was born in Argentina. I like sharing mate, our raspy accent, and our quick wits. Living here but still being able to travel abroad has made my life richer, in a sense that wouldn't have been if I had just been BORN abroad.

My culture has made me who I am. It has made me sharp, a good critic. It has made me realize the things that are wrong with countries that are usually idealized, and it has also taught me how to be thankful.

But if there's one thing I'm not thankful about, it's distance.

Why must we be so freaking far from everything!? And I mean geographically.

I have recently taken a knack for buying stuff online. Now, I'm a complete online buying newbie, and I probably made some mistakes, but I received a $125 customs fee yesterday. I was taken aghast. I understand this is usual customs regulations in my country - but I swear it wouldn't have been so much if the shipping wasn't THE MOST EXPENSIVE for any place in the world ever.

Seriously. It's like uhhh US? OK, 10 dollars shipping. Europe? 20$. Oceania? 30$. Mars? 35$. South America? Where's that? Whatever, it'll be 40 bucks please.

I find myself crying (well, maybe not so literally) behind the computer screen as I see every event I would kill to go to and I'm still stuck here. Tokyo Girls Collection. Comic Con. Angelic Pretty's new release. Anime Expo France. Just- just everything.

I think to myself - is our otaku/kawaii/Japanese fashion/whatever culture not big enough!? How come we can't have all those nice things?

So today I saw it - Angelic Pretty's summer sale (not on their online website yet). Grand Bazar in Laforet, Harajuku.

Normally I wouldn't be this sad. But I went to a Grand Bazar once. I KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE. The hundreds of shoppers swarming the building. Forming lines to stores. Shop girls yelling the discounts at the top of their lungs. Oh my God in Heaven, it's paradise.

And you know what?? I had that opportunity and didn't seize it, damn me. I barely bought a thing. I was too overwhelmed and shocked and it was one of my first days in Tokyo and had that stupid "I shouldn't waste all my money so early" mentality.

If you're ever on a trip anywhere, don't be so silly. Waste it. You won't find what you wanted to buy three days later. So grab it and seize it.

I think I bought a few things from SWIMMER, three Angelic Pretty cutsews and that's it. And I got lucky. Minutes after I stepped into the AP corner, the shop staff closed the shop and started forming a line so that people could get in. And I was in there. I WAS IN THERE. Jesus. Christ. And I bought three stupid little things?? I'm so ashamed of myself.

The saddest thing is that I also thought, "I haven't worn my only lolita skirt for a while now. If I buy more lolita center pieces, I probably won't wear them. I should be conscious with my money".

Ding dong, you were wrong. You were wrong, Abi-from-a-year-ago. I have never been so obsessed with Lolita ever. After all this time I recently and finally dared go to a Loli-specific event and loved how I felt. So why. Why did I let that opportunity go.

I was so hazy and so overwhelmed, I can't even remember what dresses were in stock. I am a very visual person - can remember everything in a mental picture - so the fact that I can't even recall what I saw in that shop means I was just unconsciously browsing around.

Unconsciously. Browsing.

While all these people were forming a line. And I was already inside. Shame on me.

So anyway, from the deepest roots of my regrets, comes this post.

We can't really choose what we like. For me, I found it's a very pendular sort of thing. I have a Liz Lisa moment, then the pendulum swings and suddenly I have an Angelic Pretty moment. I guess my trip to Japan was a LL moment.

I'm probably sounding like a big materialistic jerk through-out, but hey, I do have other problems OK. Like I need to go to sleep now so my face will be fresh and pretty in the morning.

Just kidding ;)

But I hate picture-less posts so please have a very vain and materialistic picture of my face to top it off.

The art of banalizing an entire culture in less than five minutes

OK OK OK. I am usually a very positive person and I know I should be breathing in and out my solar plexus and getting rid of all this nasty energy inside my body.

But I can't let it go just yet. I'm sorry universe. I am going to be a very negative yin right now.

So arguably the most read newspaper in the whole Republic of Argentina just released this note on their online version, titled "Teenage girls undergo surgery to look like an anime".

In case anyone is curious and knows how to read Spanish, here is the link. At least it's there until they take it off their website. Which they should.

If the title wasn't ignorant enough, here is what it reads in the first few lines...

"They spend hours in a surgery room to obtain enormous eyes and occidental features. They live beneath a facade of perfectly straight hair and school uniforms, which make them into true anime heroines come alive. A tendency that borders between sexy and morbid."

I won't bother translating the entire article because just reading the words is nauseating me. But basically it's something along the lines of "Hey Argentina, I present you Dakota Rose, who looks like a freaking cartoon character, and Japanese aesthetic clinics have been receiving thousands (?) of patients that want to look like her, so they just undergo surgery on EVERYTHING, isn't Japan crazy?"

I cannot believe this racist fictionalization could ever be published in a newspaper. Even if it is just the online version... it's horrifying.

This person, this... journalist, even if that title is way too much for a lowlife of this calibre, simply looked at Koti's photos throughout the internet. And because they had an article due for the day, they decided, "Well, let's just write something about this girl. This should prove interesting."

And so in five minutes, they banalized AN ENTIRE COUNTRY.

Oh noooo you didn't. You didn't just mess with the love of my life (Japan). This is the part where I kind of wish I was more of a well-known blogger, so I could TRULY make them ashamed of themselves.

That won't stop me though.

Let's address this article by points...

First off, dragging Dakota into all of this.

I don't know this girl, OK. But I have seen her videos and photos. She is simply STUNNING and gorgeous and speaks good Japanese. She is not Asian, however. This should be obvious to all of us, but apparently this Argentinian newspaper seems to treat her as though she was Japanese, because obviously you can't be caucasian, blue-eyed and blonde and speak Japanese. Because you obviously CAN'T study languages, you only speak the one you are born into. And moreover, you are blonde, so what are you even studying for?! Weren't you dumb, anyway?

*rolls eyes*

So apparently Dakota is Japanese. I speak a little Japanese too, so I must be Japanese as well. This logical nonsense is really interesting.

Then, assuming Dakota has had surgery. And also then saying that every Japanese girl is now craving to undergo surgery because they want to look so much like Dakota.

I don't really know if Dakota Rose has undergone any surgery. You know what? WHO CARES. For so long people have been telling us girls what we shouldn't or should do. It seems to terrorize men and women alike that, maybe, uhm, GIRLS CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITH THEIR BODIES.

They can undergo surgery. They can add prosthetics of any type or form. We can do anything as long as it's not dangerous for us. And it shouldn't be dangerous for us. We have the right to safe procedures.

So why is it such a terrifying though that some Japanese women, or any nationality of women, have surgeries? It sounds OK to me.

The article says, quote, "These two girls [oh yeah because they also dragged ANOTHER girl into this s***] are role-models for Japanese teenagers who would give anything to look like them. And Japan's surgery clinics are receiving endless calls for rhinoplasties, cheek implants and eye-lifting"

How exactly does the person who wrote this know that? Have they surveyed teenage girls? Do they know?

I also cannot believe how Kota is treated by the media. They are making her into this monster who is actually a fraud because no one could ever be that beautiful, so they must expose her and bring this beautiful alien back to Earth where she belongs, as a mundane human being.

Why does the media take perfectly gorgeous girls and use every chance they can into charging against them, exposing their every flaw?? Why is it so important that we get to see Dakota's flaws? The answer: It is NOT important. She is so gorgeous and I don't know why it is anyone's business what she does or doesn't do with her make-up.

This really upsets me... when society takes beautiful girls and shames them like that. All this pictures, "before and after", "come look at this model without her make-up"...

I KNOW THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAKE-UP AND NO MAKE-UP. We all know this. Hell, I know this. I just hate it that people are calling her a fraud because she wears make-up. She can do whatever she wants. Girls are entitled as much. We are entitled to wearing 5kg of foundation or not wearing any at all. We are entitled to having legs on our legs or shaving them.

WE DO WHAT WE WANT.

This is true feminism.

But uh, back to the article...

Third point: Racism, racism everywhere.

Then, the crowning point of this stupid crap... the blatant racist and fear of the Different Other this article boasts all around.

I quote again... even though it is really painful for me to even read this, let alone translate it... "In the Occident world, this type of fashion [I guess they're referring to scary-sexy-cute?] would provoke uneasiness because it's in the boundary of sexy and morbid. But in Japan... living dolls are what men look for".

(note: this is an approximate translation because I just wanted to get the real meaning of the words across, not what it actually literally says)

There is something I won't deny about this - yes, Japan is well known for its love of cuteness.

Models are very tiny and huge, doe eyes are preferred, sought after. I won't deny this is part of their culture. Just look at a few mangas, magazines, or whatever, and you'll find out.

Japan has a different conception of beauty than ours. In a more traditional sense, Japan's beauty comes from balance and measure. Beautiful women are intelligent, graceful women. In modern times, it could be said that Japan also considers cuteness and sweetness to be their ideal of beauty.

It is so different than our way of seeing things... but we have no right to call it morbid.

Let's see. It's only morbid if it's morbid, do you know what I mean? If we're talking about gore, yeah, it is kind of morbid. I can see where this is coming from. We assume Japan likes little girls, and then we see the models do kind of look like little girls, so we say, OK, Japan is morbid. But we forget... liking innocent grown women is not the same as liking little girls.

We have a saying in Argentina. Every time someone critiques another person for doing the same thing they are ALSO guilty of, we say, "Uhm, so, how are things back home?" - Y por casa, ¿cómo andamos? This means, "why don't you look back into your own private stuff, and you'll see you are guilty of the same crap"

Argentina is also morbid. We also sexualize women, and specially teenagers, calling them demeaning terms like "lolita", "nena" (little girl), "bebota" (big baby), etc etc

I can't believe I'm saying this, but...

I know Japanese models look super young and innocent. But they are not. They are grown women. Japan just likes cuteness. It's not a bad thing. It's just different. Here in Argentina we have all these women being extremely sexual at like, 3 PM, in minor's protection hour, and no one bats an eyelash at them. Here, the ideal is being hot, having curves, being desirable. In Japan is different. But it's not MORBID.

Both cultures, both Japan and Argentina, are extremely patronizing with their women. There's no denying that. I don't want to get into this subject because this would be endless.

But how dare we accuse Japan of sexualizing innocence. DON'T WE DO THE SAME THING?

Don't we have thousands of pictures of Argentinian models dressed in schoolgirl outfits and licking lollipops?

And how dare we accuse Japanese women of undergoing surgery!! Just look at one of Argentina's most famous media icon...

I'm not saying this is right nor wrong... but this person above undergoes surgery to look cuter/younger. So if Japanese women do it, it's morbid, right? Please bring the "THAT'S RACIST" meme here.

This is beyond the point that everything the article says is... bullshit. I don't like cursing, but sorry, it is. No investigation whatsoever was made... this is just another article destined to promote the message that "OMG LOOK AT JAPAN, THEY ARE SO CRAZY, WEIRD AND MORBID, THEY'RE FREAKS, LET'S LAUGH AT THEM"

Every culture has its good and bad points. But this article banalizing the entire Japanese culture into a surgery fanatic blob of KAWAII DESU. And the worst thing is, they don't even know what they are talking about. They don't know who the hell Dakota Rose is, what is kawaii, what is an anime, or who is Sailor Moon. They just Googled random crap and wrote a five minute articled in which they pooped on an entire culture.

Tell me, Argentina...

How are things in our homes?

Things people say when you tell them you study Japanese

The problem with taking showers is the incredible income of deep thoughts my brain begins having. OK I think I made the grammar up in that sentence, but I don't care, I think you got me, haha.

I never stop thinking. Ever. This isn't a good thing. It isn't about intelligence, either. I don't really have genius thoughts or good thoughts, just... thoughts. About everything. Overwhelming. Sometimes negative and worrying. And sometimes, thoughts profound enough to write things like this post.

People make remarks at you when you study. It's usually congratulatory, but not always.

It can range from "Wow, good work!" to "You nerd, will you EVER do things wrong?"

And with my pale skin color, one comment is almost always compulsory: "Well, I guess libraries aren't tanning salons, eh?"

When I admit I study Japanese -and notice that this needs a grade of acceptance from and of oneself, which is really sad- this kind of statement never goes unnoticed.

I get all kind of things. So I will proceed to debate them.

Let's start with one of my favorites - 


"Isn't it hard?"

Well, yes, I suppose so. But then again, isn't Spanish hard, too? I daresay it's even harder. With all its tildes (the little slanted apostrophe as in canción) and complex grammar rules (put a tilde here! No, put it here! No, not if it's a monosyllable! OK, maybe some monosyllables! Conjugate EVERY verb, noun and adjective! Include gender and number!), it really isn't that much of a breeze. But hey, Argentinians were born with it.

Now THAT is a natural privilege. I think that if I had to learn Spanish from scratch, I'd never do it! lol

The concern most people have about Japanese, and what makes it inherently hard according to those people, is the use of three alphabets.

Really now? I don't think it's so bad. Memorizing so many kanji isn't instantaneous, I'll give you that, but it's not impossible. If anything, it reduces ambiguity while reading, which is SO helpful.

And also, it's culture. It's a beautiful culture. You aren't writing letters put together. You have ideograms and pictograms and wonderful fluid characters that look like a painting. You have "komorebi"(木漏れ日), literally "the light that filters through the trees", which is written by tree, escape, sun. It is the sun jumping through the leaves and casting different shadows in the ground.

I don't know man, that's beautiful. I guess I really love, love, love language studies and everything that has to do with the conformation of languages, with semiology and semiotics, and this, for a language, is breath-taking.

So is it hard? Maybe. Learning is hard in itself. It's not Japanese, it's the process of apprehending new things that is difficult.


"But there's all these symbols..."

This next phrase has deviated directly from the last one.

This is Western idiosyncrasy. I mean, don't we, who utilize the Roman alphabet, also write with a lot of little characters that by themselves mean... nothing? There is no meaning emanating from the letter "a". There is, however, a social construct that "a" should sound like... well, "a", and in conjunction with many other thingies like "a", will form words that have certain phonetics depending on the order of the letters.

Japanese characters have a lot of good points. For one, they don't need caps like we do. They are organized into syllables that have a certain pronunciation, reducing phonetic ambiguity by a great lot. And they are also very pretty.

Why should Japan adapt to our Western system? When you don't understand a language, it doesn't matter how the characters are written. For example, I don't understand a word of, say, German. It doesn't make any difference to me if German is written in hiragana or Roman letters. I still cannot make any sense out of it. Sure, you might say, "at least Roman letters you can read".

Yes, you can. But the world is filled with many beautiful alphabets... Cyrillic, Arabic, Korean, just to name a few. Nobody is like us, yet we are all alike. Isn't that amazing?

The problem I find in the Argentine society is that formal education still doesn't consider the Eastern hemisphere to be relevant to education plans. So they teach us all about the Roman Empire, the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, this and that, but never what was happening in Japan. Or in Israel. Or Iran, or Thailand, or anywhere! They don't even teach us about the Tsarist Regime in Russia, and well, at least Russia is halfway into the Western hemisphere! But no.

So how are we to understand a culture if we think we are the only one? That is why people ask, "Why three alphabets?" Because. Just because. Exactly like the reason we use the Roman alphabet! Just because! Phoenicians happened to try to unify alphabets so they could commerce! But it STILL is just because. It could have happened many ways. It happened a certain way because of the historical and spacial context, but that's it.

There is a Major you can study here in Buenos Aires, called "Oriental Studies". However, I insist that this is kind of unfair. We should be allowed to specialize professionally in that area, yes, but why aren't we thought this things from day one in Elementary School? Moreover, this Major is dictated in a private university, which most people don't have access to.


"Chuchiwawewi. Did I just say something in Japanese?"

Now that is really bizarre. Why would anyone do that? Believe it or not, they do. Of course it is meant as harmless fun, but that doesn't make it any less rude.

People assume that because Oriental languages are arranged differently, and they sometimes have repetitive phonetical structures, that randomly throwing sounds together will add up to something. This is a millenary language, are you kidding me? It makes sense, it has a certain disposition of elements, it is intricate. Vomiting syllables won't make words.

Japanese language students share this trait, I presume, with Chinese students. I bet people say "Xiaxuxeyanye. Did I just say something in Chinese?".

Seriously guys, those kind of things border on racial stereotypes, specially considering the tone they use when trying to "come up with Japanese" (more often than not, a very nasal, high voice). I wouldn't like it if people told me, "AMIGO tacos milanesa, ratonesa parapente" and asked if they were speaking actual Spanish. But this is even worse, because usually everyone can at least mutter two words in Spanish (amigo and fiesta), but for Japanese, they just make gutural sounds, randomly guessing.

So I guess a correct comparation would be like this: "Rrra rri rru gah goh geh. Did I just say something in Spanish?"

Are you *expletive* kidding me.jpg

That being said, I am over-thinking this WAY too much. But hey, I really do love languages, that's the main reason I study communicational studies.

For all that it's worth, though, I'll say this - even if you don't speak a word of Japanese, try smiling at a Japanese man or woman, boy or girl. I bet you my life that they will smile back. This is also the beauty of humanity, even -gasp- more so than any language. You will then comprehend the importance of living in a globalized world, and knowing the "other half" as much as you know yours. Because we are different, but the same. Like the song says: A smile means friendship to everyone :)