Lost in Translation

Over the past week or so I havent really left my dorm in Fuchu during the day except to get food. But when night comes around I've been going to this local bar. I've met a lot of great people there so far, but I've been spending too much money. Without school its harder to keep from spending so much money. One guy from the Fuchu bar who is really cool is from Brazil. He has a German Father and a Japanese mother; he has been living in Japan for several years, is 35, works for Toshiba and has a Japanese wife. He offered me a job because Toshiba needs more workers to help construct a new shinkansen (high speed train), but he said working 4 hours a day would not be enough. Another guy I met is from Canada and he said he might want Japanese lessons from me. He hasnt responded back yet though.

Two nights ago I had an especially strange experience, almost out of “Lost in Translation.” I was at the bar alone when the woman sitting next to me noticed this hat my friend gave me. It was gachapin, which is some frog guy from Japanese TV. She said she really wanted it but I didnt really want to give it to her. She spoke decent English so we talked more in English than Japanese, but still used Japanese. She was talking about an exchange where if you give somebody something you will end up with more in return, i.e. part of Japan’s culture of gifting. She was 38, and accompanied by her boyfriend/husband. She asked whether I wanted to go somewhere else to get something to eat/drink with her and her boyfriend/husband.

There was a place nearby called Misato that was also owned by the bar, so we decided to go there. I told her she could have the hat at the end of the night, but I just ended up giving it to her before we even left the Fuchu bar. She seemed so suprised that I actually gave it to her and kept asking if it was really hers. She was already pretty drunk at this point. So we went to Misato and since I dont know anything about sake besides the fact that I like the dry kind, I told her boyfriend to pick something for me. They asked me what I wanted to eat and I said I like sashimi. Yoko (the girl) asked me what kind I didnt like and I said kai (shellfish). Then she asked me why I dont like tai, and what that is in english. Tai is seabream and I told her, but I said I didnt say tai I said kai. I said I really like toro, maguro, and tako. She asks me what the difference was between tai and tako, I told her I like the way tako feels in your mouth but I dont really like the flavor of shellfish too much. On a side note I do enjoy shellfish more than I used to, but its still not a particular favorite. So the sashimi comes and it is in front of Yoko. I'm eating it, and I think she is very surprised at how well I use chopsticks, as I reach across to pick up the sashimi.

As I was eating she says I look like the emperor and she tried to adjust my posture. Either I was slouching too much or sitting up too straight... I really dont know. Then out of nowhere she starts saying I shouldnt eat the fish. During oshogatsu (Japanese New Year celebration) the fish market closes down for several days, so she said it was old. It doesnt taste good. And I said I never said it doesnt taste good, I like it. I know but it doesnt taste good says Yoko. Tell the chef you dont want to eat it. I was getting really confused at this point. Once again she asks if the hat is really hers to keep. I said yes. I said I came to Japan by myself, that I have no family here. My parents are planning to come to Japan and she says no they cant. I was very suprised and said why not. Because you dont have a koseki. Whats a koseki? Oh its very hard to explain. I (yoko) have a koseki but you dont. If a foreigner marries a Japanese person, then they would get one. At this point I looked up koseki and it is family register. Then I told her they were just coming to visit me so she says ok thats fine then.

At this point, Yoko is very drunk and is staring at me. She then wrapped her fingers around my necklace and gazed at it for a few moments. I said you want this? No answer. Finally I took her hand away from my silver Japanese necklace (which was a holiday gift from my parents a year ago) and asked her, what do you want now? She started talking about how much she loved her boyfriend, mixing in English with the Japanese, such that at times I was not sure what she was really saying. Around this time her boyfriend said that its time to go. But she says no you go on ahead, I'm gonna stay here. He says no we're going right now, so lets go. He almost had to drag her out the door and without saying anything he apologized to me with a look alone. I still had my second glass of sake and the food, all of which they paid for so I continued to sit there and eat and drink. I asked the man working behind the counter if he had any idea what really happened and he said no..... It was so bizarre.

There are several websites like Gaijinpot.com that have been useful for living and visiting Japan. I got an email today from a Japanese girl responded to an ad I posted on one of them, Japan-guide.com looking for friends. Straight up she said she has a guitar but never plays it, so she is willing to give it to me so someone can make use of it. That would be fantastic, so I'm going to respond to her and see what happens.

I still havent gotten my KCP Level 3 grade back, I dont think I will know until I go back to school when the next term starts. I will be absolutely shocked if I didnt pass though which is scoring better than 80%.

I might check out the Tokyo zoo this week based upon a suggestion from my father. When he visited 30 years ago, the pandas were the rage in Tokyo. I have no idea whether there are still pandas, but maybe it would be a good place to go.

My friend Tim who returned back to New York said he is sending me some books. Tim was my best friend at KCP, we ate lunch together almost everyday just because we would run into each other before class. He is also a linguist and is fluent in Russian and English. He also knows some German, and Italian. Of course he knows Japanese as well, but he had no experience before coming to Japan. Out of all the level 1 students I knew though he had the best Japanese. He has been studying in Holland but he didnt know if they were going to let him back in the school. Hopefully that works out for him. A picture of Tim leads off this posting.

And if Jacki Breger is reading this blog, a big hug from Tokyo, as you saw my parents at a downtownLA holiday party. Its too bad it never worked out having a small City Life reunion before I left for Japan.