Japanese Lessons
11/1/05, Okayama Japan
After arriving in Tokyo, I was struck by the fact that I was immediately illiterate. Japanese uses several phonetic alphabets, but most words are written in Kanji, the chinese-derived symbolic alphabet. We, of course, have no idea how to read this alphabet.
I had my first real Japanese lesson yesterday, in a pedagogically unusual setting. It strayed from its original topic a bit, but eventually, I learned something.
Betsy and I dined in Bizen, yesterday evening, in Okayama prefecture. After dinner, we strolled by a signed building that she had previously noticed but never identified. With coaxing by her, I opened the door.
Four women sat in a dark, panneled room, and one of them enthuastically yelled at me in Japanese. I shut the door immediately. As we walked away, Betsy told me that the woman had said, "Welcome." Well, if we were welcome, we should go back. I insisted that we turn around for a drink.
What followed was a little unexpected. Betsy and I had just eaten a huge meal, but the women kept putting plates of food in front of us (chocolate, crackers, etc.). (We later learn that you are supposed to not touch the food, as you get charged for each plate). It's a far cry from Spain, where free tapas are foisted on you with vigour. The bar was also oddly stocked. They didn't have gin and tonic, but rather had bottles and bottles of Hennesy, other Cognacs, and brandies. We had rum and cokes.
After a few minutes, four factory workers, already inebriated, entered and joined us at the bar. They ranged from 30 years to 50 years old. They kept sending us drinks, and more food kept coming. Fortunately, Karaoke prevented us from having to interact with them all that much, though one did "like" Betsy. After Betsy and I had hung around and performed several songs ("Yesterday," "Like a Prayer," You're so vain," "Cecelia," and my solo of "99 Luftballoons" (auf Deutsch)), we decided to go. We had only asked for two drinks, so were surprised with a bill that was roughly twice what are dinner cost (apperantly, in Japan sending someone a drink also entails sending them the bill for the drink).
Though it was expensive, I learned a lot that will be useful in the future: 1) sending someon a drink is easy and free; 2) Japnan is a very supportive place to do Karaoke.
Plus, as for my Japanese, I now know the Kanji for "musical interlude."
After arriving in Tokyo, I was struck by the fact that I was immediately illiterate. Japanese uses several phonetic alphabets, but most words are written in Kanji, the chinese-derived symbolic alphabet. We, of course, have no idea how to read this alphabet.
I had my first real Japanese lesson yesterday, in a pedagogically unusual setting. It strayed from its original topic a bit, but eventually, I learned something.
Betsy and I dined in Bizen, yesterday evening, in Okayama prefecture. After dinner, we strolled by a signed building that she had previously noticed but never identified. With coaxing by her, I opened the door.
Four women sat in a dark, panneled room, and one of them enthuastically yelled at me in Japanese. I shut the door immediately. As we walked away, Betsy told me that the woman had said, "Welcome." Well, if we were welcome, we should go back. I insisted that we turn around for a drink.
What followed was a little unexpected. Betsy and I had just eaten a huge meal, but the women kept putting plates of food in front of us (chocolate, crackers, etc.). (We later learn that you are supposed to not touch the food, as you get charged for each plate). It's a far cry from Spain, where free tapas are foisted on you with vigour. The bar was also oddly stocked. They didn't have gin and tonic, but rather had bottles and bottles of Hennesy, other Cognacs, and brandies. We had rum and cokes.
After a few minutes, four factory workers, already inebriated, entered and joined us at the bar. They ranged from 30 years to 50 years old. They kept sending us drinks, and more food kept coming. Fortunately, Karaoke prevented us from having to interact with them all that much, though one did "like" Betsy. After Betsy and I had hung around and performed several songs ("Yesterday," "Like a Prayer," You're so vain," "Cecelia," and my solo of "99 Luftballoons" (auf Deutsch)), we decided to go. We had only asked for two drinks, so were surprised with a bill that was roughly twice what are dinner cost (apperantly, in Japan sending someone a drink also entails sending them the bill for the drink).
Though it was expensive, I learned a lot that will be useful in the future: 1) sending someon a drink is easy and free; 2) Japnan is a very supportive place to do Karaoke.
Plus, as for my Japanese, I now know the Kanji for "musical interlude."
posted by Anonymous at 10:08 PM
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