The Quilt Show Class
Friday, I went to a quilt show in Shizuoka City. I will post pictures from the show at some point. I want to write about this now, because it is still bothering me.
When classes are offered at quilt shows, I like to take one. I like to learn new things and also have the opportunity to interact with other people. I signed up for a class to make a little appliqué zipper pouch. The class fee was 3300 yen and included the kit. There were two choices, a reddish purple flower kit and the blue one I chose. Here is the picture from the kit.
As soon as I sat down, two class helpers ripped open my kit and started arranging the precut pineapple fabrics on the blue background. Meanwhile, there were three Japanese women who were working with no helpers. I kept telling the two “helpers” I could do it myself. They pinned the pineapple pieces to the blue fabric, and I noticed they pinned the pieces to the back side of the fabric. I tried to show them it was the wrong side of the fabric to no avail, so I unpinned and turned it over. The two of them together started pinning the pieces to the small piece of blue fabric and I could hardly see it because their four hands were in my way. I kept telling them that I could do it and that I wanted to do it. When I finally could see it, the pineapples were crooked and not centered. Next, one of them had a needle threaded, picked up the pinned fabric, and started sewing! By then, I had had enough. I pulled out the needle and thread, gathered up my kit and left. Of all the classes I have taken, I have never had an experience like this. Did they think I was totally stupid and inexperienced because I am not Japanese? No one was helping the Japanese women in the class. I am still angry about this.
5 comments:
My goodness, that is way over the top!
What a horrible experience for you. However, I am not surprised; I have been treated in the same way far too many times.
How can one explain this behaviour of 'helpers'?
When someone does not even TRY to listen when I speak Japanese,
I see it as a sign of them being stressed out. I think it is the so-called 'gaijin-fever syndrome', i.e. getting flustered in front of a foreigner? Did they feel they had to HELP/SHOW/DO IT for you, as they (probably) could not explain in English? Did they feel ashamed of not being able to communicate in English, despite having studied the language for at least 6 years in school? Were they stressed out for some other reason? Did the class have to finish in a specific time frame? Were other people looking on?
It was an unfortunate experience, but as you know, not all instructors are as unsympathetic. Your wood-carving teacher didn't treat you like that, did he? When you made the paper tape baskets with your friends, I am sure they explained any problems with the Japanese printed instructions, but did not do the job for you.
Was there a questionnaire for the show? You could ask a Japanese friend to help you write down a formal complaint.
I am sure you will make a beautiful pouch of the kit, all by yourself and you will surely have a lot of memories of the event every thime you see it!
Please don't shed tears over this, but laugh, after all, it is part of living in Japan, isn't it?
What a horrible experience. Don't you wish you could have gone off in a corner, done it on your own and triumphantly said, "See!"
Hi Pamela. You must have felt very uncomfortable.😢I think it's only natural that you felt uncomfortable.
I think this is a complete mistake by the class organizer. Despite the many translation tools, I can't know why I didn't use it in that class. Class organizers need to improve so that everyone participating can enjoy it.
I can't believe that they opened or sew your kit bag.😱
That's horrible! Even if you *were* inexperienced, how would you learn anything from them doing everything for you? And badly, too? Hopefully the kit will still be fun to make on your own, but it will always be tainted by this experience now.
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