I don’t know whether the so called “International Exchange” is a common concept across the world, but some Japanese people really seem to like this. Unfortunately, based on my personal experiences, “International Exchange” is one of my most hated things in Japan. It gave me a lot of bad memories.
When my Japanese language was not good, I met many Japanese people who claimed to be interested in Chinese culture. At first, I thought it was wonderful. We ere talking about things from our own country. We even called each other through Skype to hear our voices. We were always saying some day he or I will visit each ohter’s country and should meet in real life. I thought we were friends at that time.
Things soon changed. With my Japanese language skills getting better, that type of Japanese person didn’t want to talk to me anymore. Sometimes, those Japanese people who like Chinese culture would meet up to have a party. One time, I asked one of them if I could join in when I come to Japan. He didn’t reply. After my plan to move to Japan was decided, our relationship was collapsing even quicker. I got less and less replies from those “friends”.
Eventually, I gave up and blocked them. I even wrote an article to analyze why they didn’t want to talk to me anymore. I thought it was all my fault at that time. Now the truth cannot be clearer, they didn’t think I was one of their friends at all. They were seeking a sense of superiority from being surrounded by Chinese people like me in the first place. The kindness they showed me was a kind of discrimination and wasn’t an equal relationship.
After moving to Japan, I dismissed all these kind of Japanese “friends” in the first half of the year. Every foreigner should stay away from them. There are no friendships to be found with them. Talking with them is worse than wasting time.