GAIJIN

The last Monday, a teacher said this word in a class, "Gaijin." What do you imagine in hearing that word? Do you imagine blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, or black skin, something else? Anyway what you imagine is "not Japanese," I think. However, there's an exception - as for the Asian, especially Chinese or Korean, the image differs. That is, when we see them, we think them as "Chinese" or "Korean" rather than "Foreigner." I don't know why I think so, but I'm sure that there's no proper word about "Foreigner" in Japanese... As the teacher told, the word "Gaijinn" is not good word, for that means "outside people." Even if someone who has featutres of European, African or else, has the nationality of Japan, we'll regard them as "Foreigher." Why? It's difficult question for me...