I'm a 25 year old woman and I've been living in Japan for a few years now.

It's a beautiful country.

Every bit is fascinating and alien as I imagine, but I do have one major complaint.

In rural areas where foreigners are a rarity, Japanese men can become a little bit obsessive

when it comes to foreign girls, especially fair-haired blue-eye girls such as myself.

I have dealt with quite a few situations where I was way beyond uncomfortable, even one

or two where I feared I might be abducted or worse.

One such encounter took place a few years back when I was in my third year of my university

course.

Everything was a very brief encounter but a terrifying one nonetheless.

I was studying abroad at the school in Saitama, essentially a suburb of Tokyo being only

15 miles or so away from the capital city center.

I was meeting a lot of new people, making a lot of new friends, getting to really practice

my Japanese and generally having the time of my life.

One day after classes were finished, my friends invited me to go shopping with them at a

local supermarket to get things for a nabe party.

For those who don't know, nabe is basically a potluck dinner kind of thing.

You get some fresh vegetables and cuts of meat, then you put a big pot on a little gas burner

before everyone gathers around and eats together.

It's a huge part of traditional Japanese culture and a great way to socialize.

I was over the moon that they invited me.

I was usually left out of these kinds of things at first because I was an outsider, whereas

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