I forgot to mention yesterday, but MrMan5.5 managed to find a yakisoba roll at our local convenience store, so he bought one so he could see what they were talking about in Yakitate Japan.
We went to Hakone today, to try out one of the hot springs there. We decided to go to Hakone Kamon, which had good reviews, and was relatively easy to get to from the station (there's a free shuttle bus that leaves every hour, but there is also a bus you can catch for 100 yen that seems to be pretty frequent). The staff were really friendly, and the other patrons were also really nice as well. They were perfectly happy to take photos of us, and teach us how to tie the belt for the yukata.
I couldn't take the heat in the hot spring though, and so I didn't stay for very long. It was also kinda boring. They separate the hot springs based on gender (because you're naked while inside), so I didn't really have anyone to talk to, and I didn't want to bring my book in case it got wet. Any time I got into a hot spring, another woman would leave (was it me?), so even if I wanted to talk to someone, there wasn't anyone there to talk to. As we went during the week, the hot spring was virtually deserted.
When we first got here, I was pretty reluctant to speak any Japanese at all (despite spending 2 years studying it at uni). Whenever Japanese was required, I wanted MrMan5.5 to do the talking, because he looked like a foreigner, and so they would speak to him nice and slowly. If I did the talking, they would assume I was fluent, and so would answer with fast, complicated Japanese and we'd be clueless. This proved to be correct when we were in Akihabara and I asked if they had Gurren Lagann in Blu Ray and was answered with a long stream of Japanese. When he saw our clueless faces, he crossed his arms to make an 'X' and shook his head no.
I think most of my reluctant comes from experiencing people speaking Japanese in Australia. By people, I mean weeaboos, and by speaking Japanese, I mean screaming out a few phrases they've picked up from anime over and over again, completely ignoring the meaning and correct usage of the phrases. I think it's great that they're opening themselves to another culture, especially one so different from the one we have in Australia, but I cringe every time I see them. For one, they act quite arrogant all the time, like they're so much better than everyone else because they "know" another language. They sound all whiny and they seem to punctuate anything that is said with "Ee?!?!?!?!?!?!" that is really drawn out. It's something that Japanese people do as an expression of surprise, a bit like "Oh, really?", and seems to occur a lot in anime, but weeaboos seem to use it so much it sends shivers down my spine when I hear it.
Then you get the problem of their Japanese vocabulary being so limited that in order for them to talk, it is mostly in English, so what they end up doing is throwing in Japanese phrases when they can, and speaking English otherwise. Overall, it ends up sounding really stupid.
"I saw a neko statue today. It was soooooooooooo kawaii!!!!!!"
"Ee?! No way!"
"I want to go to Nihon soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much."
"Watashi, too!"
I know I'm acting all arrogant now, like I'm better than them because I actually studied Japanese, and have now actually been to Japan. It seems like my willingness to admit that: a) I'm not Japanese and b) I'm bad at speaking Japanese, is mostly my basis for being arrogant. In Australia, I will almost never speak Japanese, even if the situation might require it, because I feel like I'm butchering the language. When I call Graham, he always answers with "moshi moshi, Anna-san", and I always reply in English.
It seems silly not to use what little I know now that we're in Japan though. Even if my grammar is all wrong, and the pronunciation is off, it would probably help us and the people we're talking to get the gist of what we want across at least. So despite my reservations, I'm trying to say more and more in Japanese and trying to encourage MrMan5.5 to do the same. We learnt how to say "Are you a homeless person?" last night, and I want to get MrMan5.5 to say it to some random people and see how they react, and if they get angry, just pass it off as a foreigner's mistake. He only seems to want to ask me if I'm homeless. At any rate, I've decided that it's mean, and I'll probably burst out laughing if he does it anyway, so that would give it away.
To finish off, I thought I'd add some useful phrases for anyone else who is planning to visit Japan (please do not give this to weeaboos).
しゃしんをとってもいいですか。
Shashin o tottemo ii desu ka?
Is it OK to take photos?
しゃしんをとってもらえますか。
Shashin o totte moraemasu ka?
Can you take a photo of me?
みているだけです。
Mite iru dake desu.
I'm just looking.
それをみてもいいですか。
Sore o mite mo ii desu ka?
Can I look at it?
わたしたちにはたかすぎます。
Watashitachi ni wa taka sugimasu.
It's too expensive for us.
＿＿＿＿はどこでかうことができますか。
_______ wa doko de kau koto ga dekimasu ka?
Where can I buy _____?
＿＿＿＿＿がはいっていますか。
_______ ga haitte imasu ka?
Does it contain ________?
わたしは＿＿＿＿＿＿アレルギです。
Watashi wa ________ arerugi desu.
I'm allergic to __________.
ふたりがおねがいします。
Futari ga onegai shimasu.
Table for two, please.
えいごのメニューがありますか。
Eigo no menyuu ga arimasu ka?
Do you have an English menu?
Number of people who I have asked to take photos of us: 2
Number of convenience store breakfasts so far: 3
Number of people asked about their homeless status: 0
Number of giraffes tending the counter at 7-11: 1
2 comments:
I totally know what you mean about speaking Japanese in Australia. I don't even really know that much but people always tell me I should practice at Japanese restaurants (the real ones, not the ones run by non-Japanese). Doing so I just feel like a massive douchebag though. Last time I used "gochisousama deshita" when leaving a restaurant the waiter smiled and thanked me (in Japanese) but I suspect he was secretly laughing at my pronunciation. Hazukashii!! :)
I always wonder if they can hear my bad pronunciation and feel like they want to run away in terror in case they have to deal with my broken Japanese with their broken English.
People have been really good so far though, and they're pretty clever at thinking of ways to get around the language barrier. I guess it must be a common occurrence for them.
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