At least she was honest
Chris Kern
"For a foreigner, even writing hiragana is amazing."
Gee, thanks.
And is it just me, or do some Japanese people have a mental block that
prevents them from believing that a gaijin can read or write Japanese
-- even if the ability is shown to them multiple times?
It's even funnier when they forget to be surprised for a minute. I
was looking at this register of new babies in our town's newsletter,
and the teacher holding the thing was commenting on a few names that
she had never seen before. I commented that one seemed like a good
choice because of the kanji they used (kokoro and atatakai). At first
she started to respond in agreement -- but then suddenly the lightbulb
went on and she remembered to patronize the gaijin ("sugoi! kanji no
imi mo wakaru!"). I've had this happen on a few other instances when
I was asking a question about something -- they start to give the
answer but then remember "oh wait, I can't acknowledge the actual
reading ability of the gaijin by responding to his question, I have to
patronize him instead -- that way I can pretend that he doesn't really
know anything and feel secure in my bubble!"
Today someone said "eego sugoi jouzu desu ne!" -- I thought she was
joking at first but sadly, she was not.
Then there are all the pathetic "even Japanese people can't read this"
lines, but that's enough for this post.
-Chris
Eric Takabayashi
> "For a foreigner, even writing hiragana is amazing."
>
> Gee, thanks.
>
> And is it just me, or do some Japanese people have a mental block that
> prevents them from believing that a gaijin can read or write Japanese
> -- even if the ability is shown to them multiple times?
Many, many Japanese people. They may smile, laugh or applaud as a group
if merely given customary greetings.
I would like to know if anyone in other countries would clap and
compliment Japanese if told "Hello" or "Thank you" in their language or
when their skill with a fork is demonstrated.
> It's even funnier when they forget to be surprised for a minute.
It's funniest when people only find out I can understand Japanese or am
not Japanese much, much later. Most of the people in my neighborhood do
not know I am foreign, and I have been here seven years. I have had
people gawk, recoil, scream, apologize, exclaim disbelief, or actually
run away. It's why I use a Japanese name when I can, and use my alien
card for ID in transactions. I want to see their faces.
> I
> was looking at this register of new babies in our town's newsletter,
> and the teacher holding the thing was commenting on a few names that
> she had never seen before. I commented that one seemed like a good
> choice because of the kanji they used (kokoro and atatakai). At first
> she started to respond in agreement -- but then suddenly the lightbulb
> went on and she remembered to patronize the gaijin ("sugoi! kanji no
> imi mo wakaru!"). I've had this happen on a few other instances when
> I was asking a question about something --
How long have you been here? It's normal when people find out I am
foreign. The only people who don't seem to care are those with a lot of
exposure to foreigners such as at Immigration or at the airport. I
surprise even local police, every time. And I liked it when the guy at
the licensing center, who only spoke Japanese and had Japanese forms,
said I could fill out the application "in English". I guess he thought I
could speak, understand and read Japanese, but miraculously be too
ignorant to write my own name and address.
Brett Robson
>
>I would like to know if anyone in other countries would clap and
>compliment Japanese if told "Hello" or "Thank you" in their language or
>when their skill with a fork is demonstrated.
>
Me, I often say "fo-ku ga jouzu" and express surprise that Japanese can read
"Chugoku no ji". And to people who think calling me "pan" or "bureddo ando
ba-ta" get the same treatment back; "why are you called shiotani? is your valley
full of salt? that's pretty funny".
> And I liked it when the guy at
>the licensing center, who only spoke Japanese and had Japanese forms,
>said I could fill out the application "in English". I guess he thought I
>could speak, understand and read Japanese, but miraculously be too
>ignorant to write my own name and address.
>
When I had to first buy my monthly train pass I was travelling to gyo-en-mae.
When I started to fill out the form one of the station attendants came out to
help me. I got most of it but I asked me to write gyo-en-mae for me. He asked
his mate what the kanji is and I told him the O in Ocha, he smiled at me
politely but patronizingly. I insisted but he refused to believe me pointing out
that it was gyo-en-mae not go-en-mae. I whipped out my electronic dictionary and
showed him gyo is a reading of that kanji. When his friend found out I was right
they were both rather embarrassed.
.
----
"You don't bang it at 11:00pm but on the other hand, you don't play tribal house
when you're headlining a tech-house party"
DJ Mike McKenna talking shit
Louise Bremner
> And is it just me, or do some Japanese people have a mental block that
> prevents them from believing that a gaijin can read or write Japanese --
> even if the ability is shown to them multiple times?
....which can be irritating for those who happen to be J-E translators.
My favorite is the reaction from clients when it becomes clear that I'm
not married to a Japanese person--it might take a while, but eventually
there'll be a polite enquiry as to who reads the kanji for me.
________________________________________________________________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!
Marc
"Chris Kern" <chris...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1oa1svsdqefs285h6...@4ax.com...
>
> "For a foreigner, even writing hiragana is amazing."
>
> Gee, thanks.
>
> And is it just me, or do some Japanese people have a mental block that
> prevents them from believing that a gaijin can read or write Japanese
> -- even if the ability is shown to them multiple times?
>
> It's even funnier when they forget to be surprised for a minute.
Don't worry. After you've been in Japan for about 5 ~ 10 years it will
appear quaint and you won't care anymore.
Kevin Wayne Williams
> "For a foreigner, even writing hiragana is amazing."
>
> Gee, thanks.
>
> And is it just me, or do some Japanese people have a mental block that
> prevents them from believing that a gaijin can read or write Japanese
> -- even if the ability is shown to them multiple times?
I once had a Japanese person tell me that I must have studied Chinese,
because gaigin that learn Japanese can't learn kanji.
My mind boggled so hard I never have had it repaired properly.
KWW
Travers Naran
Even 2nd hand, it boggles my mind.
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Travers Naran | Visit the SFTV Science Blunders
F/T Programmer,P/T Meddler In Time&Space | Hall of Infamy!
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Cash
Bremner) belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
>Chris Kern <chris...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> And is it just me, or do some Japanese people have a mental block that
>> prevents them from believing that a gaijin can read or write Japanese --
>> even if the ability is shown to them multiple times?
>
>....which can be irritating for those who happen to be J-E translators.
>My favorite is the reaction from clients when it becomes clear that I'm
>not married to a Japanese person--it might take a while, but eventually
>there'll be a polite enquiry as to who reads the kanji for me.
Okay, I'll bite. Who reads them for you?
Ryan Ginstrom
"Michael Cash" <mike...@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:0qi3sv4rbv77lqbve...@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 08:14:42 +0900, dame_...@yahoo.com ( Louise
> Bremner) belched the alphabet and kept on going with:
> >My favorite is the reaction from clients when it becomes clear that I'm
> >not married to a Japanese person--it might take a while, but eventually
> >there'll be a polite enquiry as to who reads the kanji for me.
>
> Okay, I'll bite. Who reads them for you?
I'll cut you in on a little secret of the trade, that may spare you some
grief down the road.
Nobody reads them for us.
That's because since we gaigins are unable to grasp the fine nuances of
Japanese anyway, just having our texts read to us wouldn't do us much good
now, would it, smarty pants? What we actually need is a Japanese person to
translate them for us, and then we "native check" them to make sure they are
gramatically correct.
HTH,
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
Louise Bremner
> > >....which can be irritating for those who happen to be J-E translators.
> > >My favorite is the reaction from clients when it becomes clear that I'm
> > >not married to a Japanese person--it might take a while, but eventually
> > >there'll be a polite enquiry as to who reads the kanji for me.
> >
> > Okay, I'll bite. Who reads them for you?
>
> I'll cut you in on a little secret of the trade, that may spare you some
> grief down the road.
>
> Nobody reads them for us.
>
> That's because since we gaigins are unable to grasp the fine nuances of
> Japanese anyway, just having our texts read to us wouldn't do us much good
> now, would it, smarty pants? What we actually need is a Japanese person to
> translate them for us, and then we "native check" them to make sure they are
> gramatically correct.
The best rejoinder I've heard is: "I don't read the kanji--I just run my
fingers over the page, and somehow images form in my mind...."
Ryan Ginstrom
" Louise Bremner" <dame_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1g4yxkq.gak4fa16da4xsN%dame_...@yahoo.com...
> Ryan Ginstrom <gins...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > That's because since we gaigins are unable to grasp the fine nuances of
> > Japanese anyway, just having our texts read to us wouldn't do us much
good
> > now, would it, smarty pants? What we actually need is a Japanese person
to
> > translate them for us, and then we "native check" them to make sure they
are
> > gramatically correct.
>
> The best rejoinder I've heard is: "I don't read the kanji--I just run my
> fingers over the page, and somehow images form in my mind...."
Or: I don't understand them. I just write any old thing, and in all these
years nobody has complained yet!
--
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom
The 2-Belo
And the really odd thing is, there will be situations -- especially in the
larger cities such as Nagoya -- where some people won't even bat an eyelash.
I was standing outside a Circle K the other day puffing on a cigarette on my
lunch break, watching some sort of worker's group protest marching by, their
fists halfheartedly in the air mumbling anti-Koizumi slogans. From out of
nowhere, a man walks up behind me and thrust a yellow flyer in front of me
saying "いかがでしょうか？", reminiscent of the old woman handing Marty McFly a
pamphlet proclaiming "SAVE THE CLOCK TOWER!" in _Back to the Future_. It was a
flyer protesting the construction of the 徳山ダム in Gifu, an anti-pork-barrel
movement I was, in theory, supporting.
I was so surprised at not having been completely ignored that I nodded in thanks
and accepted the flyer. The man went merrily on his way.
I wanted to scream after him, "Waitagoddamnminit. I could have been a total
clueless temporary visitor tourist who can only read the kanji he's seen in
ninja movies. Why did you give this to me and not even think twice about it?"
Now, I realize he could have been just randomly handing the things out to get
rid of them, but then again, there were people standing right nearby who had a
higher probablility of taking the flyer -- of concern only to residents, and
residents of the Tokai area at that -- than I. Yet he went out of his way to
give *me* one.
Made me feel warm and fuzzy for a few minutes, it did.
--
The 2-Belo
the2belo[AT]msd[DOT]biglobe[DOT]ne[DOT]jp
news:alt.alien.vampire.flonk.flonk.flonk (mhm21x20)
news:alt.fan.karl-malden.nose (Meow.)
http://www.godhatesjanks.org/ (God Hates Janks!)
Processing failed. Hit any user to continue.
Marc
"The 2-Belo" <the2...@msd.biPOKPOKglobe.ne.jp> wrote in message
news:3fc2a0a4$0$3172$df06...@news.sexzilla.net...
> Marc and fj.life.in-japan is a baaaaaaaaaaad combination:
get
> rid of them, but then again, there were people standing right nearby who
had a
> higher probablility of taking the flyer -- of concern only to residents,
and
> residents of the Tokai area at that -- than I. Yet he went out of his way
to
> give *me* one.
>
> Made me feel warm and fuzzy for a few minutes, it did.
Yeah it is always fun the few times this happens. I have been surprised a
few times in Tokyo to have someone come up to me and ask for street
directions. The hard part is trying not to appear surprised when answering.