I was thinking about identity today. I have been reading a lot of books lately about people who are half-Japanese, or look Japanese and have trouble fitting into Japanese society. They are half-way in between 2 cultures and can't fit into one completely. Or even if they can fit into the US fine, they can't fit into Japanese society. Several of my friends are half-Japanese or look Japanese, and they have problems because everyone thinks they are fluent and expects them to understand everything about the culture. In one book the woman was half-Japanese, had lived in Japan for years, spoke the language fluently, and was still constantly told that she could never really fit in. All of these people struggle to fit in. I was just thinking that it is odd, because I don't look Japanese, it is almost easier for me. I fit into a definite category of "non-Japanese" and so Japanese people know where to categorize me. I know myself where I fit into the scheme of things. But people who are inbetween don't fit into a category and just confuse the Japanese. We have been talking a lot about the Japanese psyche lately, and it is really interesting. The different ways the mind works. For example, in almost all Indo-European languages, personal pro-nouns like "I" and "You" are used to determine "speaker" and "audience". They change depending on who is talking. In Japanese the personal pronouns of I and You are not widely used. Instead personal pronouns are mostly the persons place in life, or occupation. Rather than personal pronouns defining speaker and audience, the personal pronouns in Japanese define who the person is. They don't change depending on who is talking. It is a totally different way of analyzing people. It is so interesting!