dr4b | Major WTF moment

Major WTF moment

A pair of Jehovah's Witnesses (one Japanese lady, one... Indian lady?) just showed up on my doorstep and read English passages from the bible to me. I asked them how they got my address and they said that someone in the neighborhood told them that "an english-speaking foreigner lives in this apartment", so they wanted to come find out if I was Christian and/or "share their religion" with me so I would be "saved". Apparently they thought I would be really happy to talk to some other people in English, so about halfway through it I just started only replying to them in Japanese, even after they read their little English bible to me.

They say they're going to come back, but if I see them again I'm just going to ignore the doorbell next time or politely tell them to go away the minute they say "Jesus". What the fuck. I thought I should have escaped this garbage by leaving America. Shinto and Buddhist types don't usually come around to your doorstep and try to read you scriptures, they just build really cool-looking shrines that you wander into for protection charms.

What really bugs me is that nobody in this fucking neighborhood talks to me except Shiho (and they said it wasn't someone in this building) and Hidemi (who doesn't actually know where I live), so why does someone around here know who I am, know where I live, but NEVER SAYS A FUCKING WORD TO ME? Like do people spy on the gaijin and find out what apartment they're in, just so they know where to avoid or something?

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For what it's worth, we've been in our townhouse for almost two years, and we only barely know the neighbors on either side of us. One of them, is an old lady who is not very pleasant to speak to, but occasionally waves. The other, is a couple with a kid in high school--we know them because occasionally their cat escapes and likes to check out our patio.

I think communities are different in every part of the world and even in the US.

You should get mezuzah for your door.

Witnesses are supposed to leave you alone if you ask them to. If they don't, they're breaking their own rules.

Dude I've been dealing with them for years. If you have your name on the door (I have a nameplate on my house) then they will eventually come around. They cruise the city hunting for fresh meat. The Mormons tool around on mountain bikes wearing aerodynamic helmets, white shirts, and thin neckties (the guys, not their mountain bikes) and will literally shout at you from across the street in greeting if they see you.

The Witnesses you're describing likely were not told that "a foreigner lives in this apartment"; they probably asked.

I told them years ago that I'm not interested, but I still get Watchtowers and Awakes! in my mailbox once a month.

Maybe because Japan is still sort of an xenophobic insular culture?

Like do people spy on the gaijin and find out what apartment they're in, just so they know where to avoid or something?

In complete seriousness: Yes, heh.

Anyway, I've dealt with the Jehovah's Witnesses here in Toyama, too. I told them I wasn't interested, they responded "It doesn't matter if you are interested, this is a matter of your SOUL!" then asked for my keitai number, asked to be invited in, tried shoving books and other propaganda into my hands, etc. I simply apologized and closed the door. They then came back about 3-4 times over the next 2 weeks. I ignored the doorbell every time. So annoying.

How I would have dealt with the situation:

1) Open the door
2) Pretend like I'm interested
3) Slam the door on their faces.

What I really like to do if some weird people hand me stuff is to rip it up in front of their face and throw it in the garbage. :)

I know roughly who my neighbours are, even though no one really talks to anyone else. Is that creepy?

Of course, it means that they'd all describe me as "quiet, always kept to himself." A dead ringer for a serial killer, in other words. At least you're up to the state of a lost soul.

Everyone in my town knows where I live, but in my case, it's a small town and everyone knows me anyway.

I also had a pair of Jehovah's witnesses show up at my door too (though, I don't think either of them was indian. Only the younger of the two spoke (the other was a ばあさん who just there for muscle or something, I guess)). They explained who they were, gave me a pamphlet, and left. But then about a month later they came back! When I opened the door they seemed almost surprised to see me (like they didn't realize they were calling on the same foreigner again (oops!)). I said I wasn't religious, and I haven't seen them since...

But they were carrying like a binder filled with pamphlets in at least 10 languages, so I think they're definitely the foreigner welcome committee...

I've met my neighbors only briefly. I skipped the whole "greet your neighbors with gifts" thing because I never really knew quite what to get (do i just go buy something from the local store? doesn't that seem kinda lame? "yeah, i got this from down the block, i hope you like it.") And now the mood is kind of spoiled with one of my neighbors (I was playing half-life one day around noon with speakers instead of headphones (which I figure is the my polite time for loud video games), and he gave a STFU "knock-knock-knock" on the wall between us. I cut the sound and put on headphones. But since then he had several loud parties in the middle of the night. Then when we finally met one day in the hall we did the normal greeting thing but I was quietly already pissed at him for knocking on my wall when he was being the noisy guy. Then he even said "俺はたまにうるさいけど、よろしく" to which i wanted to respond "wtf!" but just left it at "はい。”
He's since had a couple more noisy night parties. I mean, if you're going to be having fun that loud, at least invite me　=p
Mmm, neighbor relations tricky...

Edited 2007-12-12 09:52 (UTC)

At least if you have a lot of college students living in your building it makes more sense. I have absolutely no reason to talk to this guy beyond just "I want to know who the hell lives next door", which seems unnatural in Japan. Maybe I could leave a gift for them without actually knocking or coming in, and see if they respond? But that seems kind of freaky and stalkerish too...

actually it's standard practice to bring a gift and introduce yourself to your neighbors (left + right + up + down) when you move in (ie: the first day). We're both rather past that point, but I figure the same gesture couldn't hurt...

We had a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses show up over christmas break one year at my parents' camp. It had just snowed about a couple feet, was about -10 outside (F), and the camp is about a mile and a half of dirt road away from a very rural paved state road.

They are damn persistent folks, not that we let them in. Pretty much the sentiment of all of us in the cabin was WTF?!?!?!!!11oneoneeleven!!

Well damn. I'm christian and I just smile and nod and then say I can't accept any literature because I'm in cahoots with Satan.. Okay.. I never did that but it was suggested to me.. :)

My ex boyfriend (from 13 years ago.. you may remember him as Justifier) he said that not only did his father invite them in, but he cross referenced their passages with THE Bible.. and he won. They left eventually. I was up at my sister's who had just moved to Jim Thorpe and they came to the door!!!

On the one hand it's nice to see somebody has a hobby...
THANKS BUT NO THANKS! NOW GET THE HELL OFF MY DOORSTEP!

:/

Looking up references works out fairly well sometimes--a lot of two-line quotes get taken totally out of context in order to support whatever position, and when you put them back in it becomes clear that they couldn't reasonably mean what it's claimed they do.

When we lived in PA, we got Witnesses just one time. And as luck would have it, Pastor Herb was in the garage picking up some woodworking materials from my dad at the time.

We saw the Witnesses working their way up the street, and started debating a proper response:

"Close the curtains!"
"Lock the door."
"Turn off the stereo!"

Herb just smiled his quiet smile, and said, "Mary, put a pot of coffee on for us, would you? This might take a while."

It was a really enlightening two hours. I think the Witnesses were relieved when they finally made their escape.

Definitely had lots of fun times with those people while I was living in Nihon. Who are the only people that wear BICYCLE HELMETS in Japan? Those religious freaks, that's who! You can spot them a zillion miles away stalking you because you're a whitey. Honestly. I hated dealing with them on the street - I used to open my cell phone and pretend to be having an indepth conversation with someone so they wouldn't approach me. I was approached by them all over Asia, for goodness sake's .. I don't have a signpost coming out of my skull "SAVE ME" so why do they think they can just be all up in your face?

I'm with the satanists up above. You could also tell them you're really a ghost and start making "OOOooOOooOOO" noises at them very loudly.

Personally I always thought they were in cahoots with the friggin' NHK people. That's a match made in hell.

That's when I break out my emergency supply of dreidels and start spinning and singing in hebrew. BTW, happy end of channukah.

You could always take this path...

http://www.homeonthestrange.com/view.php?ID=211
http://www.homeonthestrange.com/view.php?ID=212

I've got another one from a different webcomic, but it's probably only useful for those of the male persuasion. >:D

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Major WTF moment

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Out of the US and they're still coming around?!?!?

Re: Out of the US and they're still coming around?!?!?

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Booya

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