Before I came to work, I didn't mind working here until the late autumn as long as I could take a vacation like this even though I decided awhile ago that I would resign by the end of August. I didn't mind extending my limit. However, when I came to work, I saw the vice president whom I don't really respect for. I now understand the reason why I wanted to get out of here. I think I am going to stick to my schedule. I am glad I ran into him in the morning. Otherwise, I'd make a poor decision. :-) .....
| 1. | I happened to hug friends like you usually do while I was in the States last week. I get bisou bisou (kissing on the cheek.) I love that custom. I wish we could import this custom.... I love to be hugged even by straight dudes. |
| 2. | I so miss watching Charmed re-runs...I feel low by saying this but I liked it.
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| 3. | The most frequent phrase I used there was "Well, sorry, I don't live here" whenever they asked me for a zip code or something. I hated that phrase.... |
| 4. | The most frequent phrase I got was "Your English is great"...okay....whatever....It sucks |
| 5. | When I got carded after ordering an alcohol beverage, I felt happy and I thought I was stupid by giving the over-the-moon face. |
Anyway, I am stilll happy from the trip I made. But I think this happy feeling goes away real quick...By the way, cherry blossoms look better when it's cloudy. I hope it gets cloudy tomorrow. :-) You have a great day!
Shigeki, Shigeki, Shigeki...you are still TOO Japanese (humble). Your English is great!!!!! The bisou bisou is not very American. Only my European friends and gay male friends did it back in L.A., but you're right...I wish it would catch on more. I'm all for SKINSHIP!!!!!!!!!! Do you liked the Charmed with or without Shannon Doherty? I liked Pru!
I like Charmed too, although I don't get to watch it very often. I think that this is their last season on the air. Thank goodness for reruns and DVD collections!
Enjoy those cherry blossoms!!! :)
My cherry tree is starting to open its buds (I believe NY is at a latitude nearly equivalent to Sendai or Tohoku region in Japan, so our "Sakura Matsuri" comes in April).
Our form of "the greeting/parting hug" is not typical amongst straights in North America. Rare things like a reunion of good friends or family after a long time of separation, or special events. I think the kiss-on-the-cheek is a more common greeting/parting gesture between men/women of somewhat familiar standing, but is very common between gays, especially in the major urban "meccas". And among starights, while a "manly quick pat on the back no mor than 2 seconds hug" is acceptable, by no means will they kiss (cheek-to-cheek or otherwise) unless they are both first-generation immigrants from Europe or the Middle East.
On #4, I'd say that English is not terribly hard to learn, aside from the dodgy spelling and inconsistent vowels and dipthongs ("cough", "through", and "though", to name a few).
Idiom or accent that is peculiar to a given region can also be tricky, but that is eventually picked up. Much of our idiom is either highly irregular and derives from metaphoric speech or derives from "proverbial" speech (similar to kotowaza in Japanese).
The only other thing I think that might be unnatural for most ESL students might be the reversed subject-verb order.
Yet, I think the compliments a foreign English speaker receives here in the US are probably akin to the comments many visitors to Japan get about using chopsticks. I know the chopsticks comments are likely intended as a compliment, but most well-traveled North Americans are somewhat acquainted with thier use... I can't remember how many Japanese have told me that I use chopsticks well (I would imagine so, I have used them since about age 6). :P
Likewise, most well-traveled Japanese (like yourself) are quite fluent, even if you have a foreign accent... from what I remember hearing of your voice, I'd venture to say that it is quite understandable, and approaches a native level of command.
Re: kissing, I guess it's fairly common in the UK, except between straight men. Most of my friends will air kiss and/or hug when we see each other. It's certainly not as common as in continental Europe though.
Re: English, I don't know if I'd agree with Seekeronos that it's easy. I guess it's easy to learn the basics, because it's pretty hard NOT to as English is just everywhere these days. But to learn English grammar I would say is pretty hard when you get to a more advanced level, as there is just no logic to a lot of grammatical rules. Having a non-English boyfriend has made me realise just how damn strange and complicated our language can be sometimes! Also, the lack of consistency between the huge number of English dialects makes it hard to establish what is 'right' in terms of pronounciation, especially in a system like NOVA in Japan where you get taught by different people from all over the world, who all sound completely different!
Re: your English, I think you've got a very good command of the language Shigeki. You might get caught out by the occassional word that you don't recignise, but that's all. Nobody can know every English word - whenever my boyfriend tells me the new English words he's learnt, I often know less than half of them myself, and I like to think that I've got a good vocabulary!!
Here in Canada we greet each other with blowjobs...
Hugging in Japan will never catch on- it's too forward I think for Japanese culture. I mean, all my J friends are very international and are considered freaks in Japan so they don't mind, but when I hugged my mom's friend last summer when saying goodbye to her, I thought she was going to call the police ;)
I watch Charmed once in a while but I hated the Shannon Doherty days! I couldn't stand her.
bisou bisou.. i miss that too ;) We dont do that here in KL and if you do that here, people says you are pretentious!
you should move to montréal if you want to give bisous to your friends when you see them or say bye to them or when you want to congratulate them or just because.
giving servers that "over the moon" face is a reward to them for being so astute. i've been carded and i have a fair bit of grey and wrinkles. i don't mind. i was told by one clerk (here sometimes you need id to buy cigarettes) that if a person looked younger than her parents she carded them. i guess i looked younger than someone.
the best hugs come from people with long arms. being wrapped up in a secure and warm hug is a good thing, though i'm not keen on the kiss-kiss thing.
Hugs are good, kisses are definitly welcome! Body contact is cool! :-)
As for your English, I must say you've done bloody well! And the style you write on your blog - it's structured, humurous and have easily understood! Don't be too hard on yourself!
I'm so Charmed out now..... OC is cool and 24 Hours.....
Have a good day and hope you have made your decision.....
Hi GaijinGirl,
Well, I am Japanese after all. But I still think my English does suck a lot. While I was having a conversation with friends in Seattle, I was like "I can't come up with that word". I said it a few time in a few minutes which isn't good. I have never watched Charmed without Shannon Doherty. I am sure she is a major bitch but I like her. :-) You have a good day!
Hi Hanuman,
That's kewl. I am not the only one. :-) A friend of mine went "I can't believe you watch that crap" but I was so happy to be in the United States for that, too. :-) I didn't know they had DVD collections. I should check them out. Thanks for the info! You have a great day!
Hi SeekerOnos,
Your cherry tree? That doesn't imply anything? :-) Yup, my straight friends freaked out when I did "friendly" hugs. Too bad, they are so insecure about their sexuality. :-( I think I can pretty much get by when it comes to shopping and complaining this horrible check-in counter representative at Northwest Airlines at Portland Airport. But I feel like I need to improve a lot more.... It's an endless game actually. That's funny. A friend of mine who came here to Japan last year was complimented by other friends of mine "You use chopsticks well!" and this cranky friend replied "Oh wow, I can't believe you use a fork and a knife so well!" hahaha. :-) Thanks for your compliment but I will work hard to make it better if I ever can. :-) Good day!
Hi Tim,
What's up with straight guys? Too bad that they are so insecure about their sexualities. :-) I am not sure if English is easy or difficult. But all I can say is English is literally a global common language before Esperanto (I have no idea if I spelled it right) Therefore, it comes pretty convenient if we know it. And I am envious of you native speakers. :-) I went to an English language school last year and I chose Canadians or Americans for teachers as I don't think I could deal with other people. But then, I realized it would be great to get used to british/scottish/australian accents. so I tried those teachers after awhile. But it's damn difficult to understand what they were saying. :-) Huge vocab makes you look sexy. Yay. :-) You have a good day!
Hi Steve,
Seriously? I am going to go and grab a canadian tonight then? :-) What if I had to greet a guy who is not hot enough? Make sure you will greet me that way. :-) Have a great day!
Hi Fashmagslag,
Oh, that's sad. I hope it will catch on. But I guess that's a good thing so that we can keep the custom we have here. meaning "non-direct" "very humble" stuff like that. hahaha. It's funny. When I get drunk, I tend to hug other Japanese friends and they know I am a freak. :-) You have a great day!
Hi Kiss My Mike,
Really? you hated her? but I can kinda undersatnd why. While she is not really a brilliant popular actress, I like her for some reason. I think she is pretty. The way she talks. :-) So I like Charmed with her. But I have never seen one after she is gone. You have a great day!
Hi Ca va pas la tete,
Too bad we don't have that custom here in Asia. But I guess that's a good thing that we have our own ways to greet each other unlike giving head. :-) YOu have a great day!
HI Raph,
Well, I don't speak French fluently so I wouldn't be able to get a job there in montreal. But I'd love to have Bisous all the time if I ever can. :-) I need to keep doing that a lot. damn it. I want that!!! :-) You have a great day!
Hi Naomi,
I am not sure why I was so happy when I asked for my ID but I was always happy when I got asked for it. On the other hand, when I didn't get asked for ID which only happened once, I was so pissy and asked the clerk if I look old enough. That was silly. :-) I didn't notice the best hugs come from people with long arms. That's a nice thing to know. :-) Really? i love kiss-kiss thing. :-) but people have different preferences. I undersatnd. You have a great day!
Hi Ian,
Oh yeah, baby. Body contact is all good. :-) considering I have stayed in the States for some time, I should've done better than this, really. But I guess I was kinda lazy. I think I have made my decision but not quite well. I will have to sleep it over more. Seattle is kinda too small for me. It was good for college days but I am not sure if it is for now.... You have a great day!
Hi Shigeki,
Yeah the hugging varies, even among gay men. There's not much kissing around here in DC. As for Charmed, I vote with the 'hate Shannon Dougherty' crowd. Aside from the fact that she's a brat, once I realized how crooked her face is, that's all I can see. I liked the year with the cute Drew Fuller as a regular.
Hi Kevin,
There is not much kissing in DC???? Because there are too many politicians there? huh... that's sad. Who is Drew Fuller? Well, all the boyfriends of witches were cute. :-) Very soap opera but delish. :-)
Heh heh... the "cherry tree" you might have been thinking about did its thing quite a few years ago.
But I actually have a Yoshino Cherry sapling (about a year old) planted in my front yard. I will put up a photo on my blog in a week or two when the blossoms open up some more. :)
As a last comment on (the ease of learning) English, perhaps it just seemed easier to me than when I grew up learning German.
German is a very guttural language. Smaller vocabulary than English, but that also comes with a very intricate grammar, and consistent, yet very difficult for a beginner to pronounce correctly.
For example, you might encounter this word during the World Cup Football Championships hosted in Germany this year:
Fussballweltmeisterschaftsqualifikationsspiel
(meaning: World Champion Football Qualification Game)
Having more than a few long words like these might explain why we drink so much beer, to help loosen our tongues after a long day of speaking. :P
you'd be surprised at how many people don't speak french in montréal.
if you speak some, that's a start. you can always take lessons.
too good ... here its our cultural value to hug each other whenever we meet :) but certainly a male cant hug female.