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August 9, 2002 - 1:36PM
Wes Ehrlichman
Everything I learned in Japanese class is wrong.
This might not be a very fun Journal entry if you haven't
taken Japanese yourself, but you still might learn something
from it so read on!
What I have learned:
In Japanese it is very bad to use the word Anata (you) when
you are speaking about someone directly.
Japanese: Anata no namae wa nan desu ka?
English: What is your name.
This is supposed to be bad.
Fact:
It's not bad at all and I have been shying away from its use
for no reason. My guess is that it could be seen as bad because
normally you would use the person's name instead. If you are
using anata is is kind of admitting that you don't know the
person's name (which in my case is usually true since I can't
tell the difference between Tanaka and Tokumori).
What I have learned:
Every Japanese person with a Tattoo is a Japanese Gangster
(Yakuza).
Fact:
I started to wonder if this was true last week when
I saw a tattoo parlor in Harajuku, Tokyo. Its falsehood
was confirmed yesterday though, when my new friend Yumi
told me that she wanted a Tattoo. I asked her if it meant
that she was a Japanese Gangster and she replied "Mukashi"
which means "long ago." This is just shy of "Mukashi
Mukashi," which is how you start fairy tales (A long
time ago in a galaxy far far away), so I don't know how
long this falsehood has been taught to foreigners like me.
What I have learned:
All Japanese people, regardless of age, love anime
(japanese animation).
Fact:
Not true. Just like in America, cartoons are usually
made for children but some are made for adults (like the
Simpsons is in America). Most Japanese people that I've
met don't like the ones for adults, but do like the ones
made by Studio Ghibli (the Japanese equivalent of Disney).
Actually the adult anime seems to be targeted at pretty
much the same people that japanese animation is targeted
toward at home. People that are into video games, people
that are into comics, and people that are into counter-culture
in general.
What I have learned:
Japanese TV is wierd.
Fact:
This is totally true.
The weather is displayed in cute rounded bubbles instead
of the sharp adult lines like at home.
Every single program has at least one mascot, and every
mascot can be bought as a cell phone strap.
Game shows are insane, but not quite what I imagined.
I saw one yesterday where everyone was dressed up in ancient
Japanese clothing, and one guy even had on a plastic cap
with a samurai hairdo attached to it. It was a quiz show
and little kids in Kimonos brought out the questions on
wooden banners. The mascot of this show was various Japanese
Foods like meat on a stick and as the timer would run down
for the contestants to answer questions pieces of meat would
disappear from the sticks. It was totally insane. Some american
dude with his Japanese wife won.... I think. Actually it
didn't look like anyone won anything.
Every morning I watch this show about a female teacher
named Sakura who works at a high school. She was dating
an American guy who went to Japan as an Assistant Language
Teacher (like me), but they broke up in yesterday's episode.
Today she pretended to be over it, but all of her friends
and family members know better and are telling her it's
not good to bottle up her feelings. Because one of the teachers
is an ALT the show is sometimes in English, but you hit
a button on the remote control to switch the TV's language.
The show's only 15 minutes long, which is perfect for someone
who's getting ready for work in the morning.
Hmm. I guess that's it. No pictures for today, but thanks
for reading.
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