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AIBU?

WIBU to ask him to stop being racist?

41 replies

NishiNoUsagi · 18/03/2013 00:16

Patience wearing thin.

DH not British, we met and married in his country, then decided (mutually) to come to the UK 2 years ago. His first time abroad, and he is not enjoying it. He has managed to find a great, well paid job, which he hates. But won't change it. He has made friends, goes out a couple of times a month, but says he hates the UK, the weather, his job, tv, society, British women are all fat and ugly (er, thanks "D"H!)

He came home today with another rant, the gist of which seemed to be "How dare a foreign customer talk down to him" I reminded him customers of his own nationality are also often rude to him, he said not as rude as foreigners. Sorry, it's hard to explain, but it was really "all foreigners are so rude/no manners/piss me off.." kind of vein.

I have listened sympathetically for months and months, I know how horrible it feels to be homesick, but I can't stand listening every day to how he thinks British people are fat/ugly/stupid etc. If I ask him not to be judgy, he says I complained all the time in his country. I did, but about the weather, cockroaches and fascist right wingers hurling abuse at me, never about peoples looks/character but he doesn't believe me Hmm

We're not able to go back to his country yet but I'm so tempted to buy him a ticket as he seems so unhappy. I had to unfriend him on fb as every status was him moaning about how shit his life was (again, thanks "D"H!) or him and his friends making racist comments about British people/saying the UK was a shitehole.

I'm really torn between wanting to help him feel happier (and I come up with a lot of suggestions which he rejects outright) and wanting to throw things at his head when he starts the inevitable moaning/racist comments..

So I know I can't force him to love life here, although I wish I could make him happy, but AIBU to ask him to not insult/bitch complain everyday? Or is he BU to expect me to listen impartially? If I can also add, I was trying to talk to him about an ongoing pain/health problem that's been really bad the last week or so, and he was really disinterested in listening. Sigh.

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SirBoobAlot · 18/03/2013 00:19

He sounds like a total knob, especially with your last sentence. Buy him a one way plane ticket.

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SomethingOnce · 18/03/2013 00:24

There are many 'races' in Britain - is he really being racist or just a rude misery guts?

Either way, I'm sorry you're lumbered with it.

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WestieMamma · 18/03/2013 00:27

It's not racist to think Britain is a shithole. Lots of Brits think it is too.

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SquinkiesRule · 18/03/2013 00:37

He sounds like a prize. I'd probably get him to take a leave of absence and send him back to his country to decide what he wants to do, be with you and live in UK or not.

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GetOrf · 18/03/2013 00:42

He sounds like a glum bastard at best, frankly. And the fact that he was disinterested in listening to you is pretty telling really.

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NishiNoUsagi · 18/03/2013 00:49

SirBoob yep, i was pretty unimpressed with that too!

Something Good point. I'm not sure, "All British women are fat/ugly" etc is just quite hurtful. Racist? Definitely not nice, either way! He works with people from lots of different countries and seems to have plenty of rants about their attitude/behaviour at work. But his country is perfect, people are perfect etc etc until I subtly puke into a houseplant..

WestieMamma That is so very true Grin I have a good moan myself occasionally, but having to listen to it every day , I could just cry.

Squinkies much more of this and I'll raffle him off! I have offered, he had time off work and I offered to buy/help with a (return) ticket home and he made some excuses as to why he couldn't go, even though I think it would have been really good for him. He neither wants to piss nor remove arse from pot.

GetOrf to be fair to him, he's normally quite good at listening. As long as he's not stressed. Worryingly he was also quite a glum bastard when we lived in his country so the UK is not even 100% to blame. God, I just want someone to have fun with, laugh with, not be subjected to vaguely racist rants by.. Sad

Is there a kind way to get him to nicely stfu? I tried quite gently this morning to say that I could really understand his frustration, but there's no need to make the fat/ugly/stupid comments, it's quite fucking irritating to listen to hurtful, and while I know he's homesick and how horrible that feels, it's makes me feel like he resents me. He's been in a snot with me since this morning for saying that (he shouted at me for giving him a fork to eat his dinner with Confused was I supposed to give him a pencil?? a sock??)

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SomethingOnce · 18/03/2013 00:52

AIBU to be curious what paradise he hails from?

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LayMizzRarb · 18/03/2013 00:57

If living here makes him so miserable, and he thinks it is a shithole, then what is keeping him from leaving? If you find out what anchors him here, then maybe build upon that? You must talk to him, things need to change if he is so very unhappy living here. Which country did he come from?

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NishiNoUsagi · 18/03/2013 01:05

He's from Japan, i lived there for years and it's nice but not that fantastic. There are cockroaches, summers too hot, winters too cold as no central heating, v low salary for hours worked, worrying attitude towards prostitution etc but also lovely people, nice food, good beaches, karaoke..

LayMizz he says me and the kids..

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SomethingOnce · 18/03/2013 01:12

I was going to ask if you have DC.

So you're British and DC are therefore half British? How charming of their DF to diss half their identity.

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Mimishimi · 18/03/2013 01:25

I thought he must be Aussie when you mentioned the cockroaches Grin. Do you think you could take extended holidays in his home country. Luckily my DH comes from a country that he thinks is a 'shitehole' and he's lucky to live here in Australia. I don't agree entirely with that attitude but I can see why with some aspects. Does your DH work in a role where he does have to see a lot of fat English people everyday?

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TanteRose · 18/03/2013 01:35

of course YANBU - he may be "homesick" but he is being awful to take it out on you

i bet he calls everyone "gaijin" even though HE is the foreigner, right? Hmm

I'm in Japan, and of course, I complain every now and again but there is no point going on and on, because I made the decision to make my life here.

having said that, my DH (Japanese) is not particular keen on the UK - he never comes with us when I take the DCs over for visits. (he runs his own business, so that is his excuse...)

But he respects that it is my country, and makes great fish and chips!

are you a member of MIJ (the Yahoo support group for women married to Japanese men?). There are several members who have moved back to their home countries, maybe they will have better advice. Will PM you with the address if you want Smile

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BadLad · 18/03/2013 02:06

He hates:

the weather

No official rainy season, no tsunamis, very few typhoons, houses that can cope with the extreme cold.

his job

No hours on end pf unpaid overtime, workers too terrified to leave before the boss leaves, pressure not to take your own holiday, compulsory drinks parties every week

tv

British dramas are sold oll over the world. Can he really miss the inane squawking of infantile tarento?

society

In some ways. It's safer in Japan, at least in terms of being murdered by a stranger. On the other hand, you don't need women-only carriages on the tube because the men have such a problem for molesting women.

British women are all fat and ugly (er, thanks "D"H!)

Is he looking to sleep around? Why does the attractiveness of other women matter?

He sounds like the worst type of tosspot you get in this country, who have it drummed into them by racist teachers at school that everything Japanese is better than its overseas equivalent.

How is his English, by the way?

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complexnumber · 18/03/2013 02:58

I think it is very common for people to react like this when moving from one culture to another, and I don't think 2 years is necessarily long enough to get over it.

If you have never known what it is like to make this move, I'm not sure you can comment fairly on the way he is reacting to his position.

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BadLad · 18/03/2013 03:03

The OP says she lived in Japan for a few years, so one can assume she does have some experience of culture shock.

Suffering from culture shock is common and understandable, but slagging off every aspect of a country to someone from that country is just plain social ineptitude, rudeness and bad form.

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complexnumber · 18/03/2013 03:24

By her own admission she slagged Japan off a fair bit to her DH.

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BadLad · 18/03/2013 03:47

She sounds as if she has a much more balanced view of Japan than he has of the UK.

For example, it doesn't sound as if she said she hated Japan.

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DolomitesDonkey · 18/03/2013 05:30

Stop looking for stupid middle- class labels to appropriate to your husband's behaviour and instead invest the time on working on your marriage.

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NishiNoUsagi · 18/03/2013 09:49

TanteRose Yes to the "gaijin" comment! Grin
That support group sounds great, could you pm me the address? Would be good to hear from other people in the same position, it would be good to know how other Japanese people in the UK cope and make life a bit more enjoyable for him. And I hope you're having a lovely time in Japan! I miss the nikujaga, the umeshu, the karaoke

BadLad Smile Absoultely! Love that list! He can see some negative points about life there, and he does like the work/life balance here much more, so that's a positive. He's not very confident with his English, which is not helping. I keep trying to encourage him to study but he seems to have a block there, can't seem to get started. Maybe he's worried he won't improve/too much pressure?

Complexnumber I lived over there for 10 years, found my own job, got married there, had a baby there.. think i can safely say I've experienced quite a lot of what it's like to make that move! And I really enjoyed it there. As for "slagging off" Japan a fair bit, well, there's a difference between complaining that a cockroach has just walked over your dinner to making repeated personal insults to a whole nationality.. Grin

DolomitesDonkey What the.. Grin Are you ok? Did you read the op? I support my husband a lot .. I listen to his problems, suggest ways to make him feel happier, cook his favourite food when he's homesick, offer to buy him a ticket home for a long holiday on his own.. It's just tiring to, despite that, listen to such negativity all the time. Don't know how I can really work on his attitude.. but thanks for the lovely comment. Try a nice sit down and a Biscuit ?

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TanteRose · 18/03/2013 12:06

have PM'd you, Nishi Smile

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BadLad · 18/03/2013 12:12

Nobody is ever going to be happy with everything to do with the country they live in, even if it is their own country.

Sometimes this country really pisses me off. Like the OP, I have been yelled out by the cowardly right wingers in their black vans. When something like that happens, DW doesn't mind my complaining about it.

There are other things which are more a matter of opinion. DW and I will never agree about the whaling industry - she thinks they are really doing scientific research, whereas I think they're a pack of liars. If the issue comes up, for example when something about Sea Shepherd comes up on the news, then we do debate the matter (albeit getting nowhere).

But there are plenty of things to like about being here. The festivals is a good example - thousands of people standing around in crowded conditions, drinking beer, and NONE of them fighting. Wouldn't happen in England. DW knows there are lots of things I do enjoy about the country, so for the most part I hope I don't come across as just mouthing off about it for no reason. If I do it with anyone else at all, I try hard to do it with tact and relevance.

I don't think many people are going to like foreigners endlessly moaning about their country. Although I whinge about the UK incessantly, I can get defensive if a foreigner does it pointlessly and unconstructively, particularly if they have got their facts wrong.

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AnyFucker · 18/03/2013 12:14

I think your sexist twat of a husband should fuck off back to Japan if he hates it here this much, tbh

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SomethingOnce · 18/03/2013 12:17

BadLad, you're going to the wrong festivals.

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itshothere · 18/03/2013 12:43

Have to agree with AnyFucker. If the women are so stunning so diverse in the looks department why did he choose you? I personally don't have any Japanese acquaintances but grandad (RIP) always said they are a cold cruel race. You've Been more than patient with him, why continue living in misery?

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TanteRose · 18/03/2013 12:52

"they are a cold cruel race" Hmm

erm, no they are people like everyone else...and some of them can be wonderful and kind and lovely, and others can be wankers

no one particular "race" is anything IMO

I am pretty sure generalisations like that are what are called "racist"

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