I’m Turning Japanese
April 23, 2008 by Marie
A few months ago, I blogged about still being a Gaijin in Japan, in this post: Take the Gaijin Test. Recently, I have come to realize I’ve been doing a lot of things I swore I’d never do, and which I poked fun at in the first few months/years I’d been in Japan. Embarrassing to admit, but here are the Ten Reasons I think I’m Turning Japanese:
1. I sleep on the train (sometimes).
2. I do the bow and single-hand cutting combination to cut through lines and get people to move over in public transport.
3. I take home my “gomi (trash)” in a plastic bag and recycle it.
4. I feel uncomfortable if I’m not wearing stockings or socks, especially when visiting a home of a Japanese friend.
5. I make pretty bento, and own more than three pretty bento recipe books.
6. I do sudoku.
7. I carry two or three bags on the crook of my arm.
8. I don’t get bothered by terrible English signs (but in my case, anymore, as it just got to a point where it ceased to be funny).
9. I understand and use the expressions “natsukashii”, “mendoukusai”, “bimio” and “mottainai” but still can’t properly translate them.
10. I do the head-bending and sucking in of air when asked a difficult question I’d rather not answer…
Very amusing indeed … can relate to many.
Some were a huge shock to me… but there it is…
unfortunately….it happens to the best of us!!! LOL
I’m glad I’m not the only one…
most of my assimilation involves losing my English skills.
Hi claytonian! Thanks for the comment!
I forgot to add that on there… but I did gain the amazing ability to combine Japanese and English to get what I mean across.
“2. I do the bow and single-hand cutting combination to cut through lines and get people to move over in public transport.”
Are you turning Japanese, or just into a middle-aged Japanese man?
Hi Billy!
Good point… now you got me thinking…
Billy, you’ve got me thinking too …. i do that all the time, but please define “middle-aged” ..?!
Hi Neil!
Thanks for visiting!
How about dreaming in Japanese? I also talked in my dreams once in Japanese and my girlfriend heard it. She thought it was cute…but I thought I was losing my ability to speak English.
Hi ro42g!
Thanks for the comment! I don’t think I’ve turned that Japanese yet… hehehehe… But Japanese words do suddenly come out when I talk to family and friends back home, and they’re all like “What was that??”
They don’t necessarily translate as single vocabulary terms, but we have the same expressions in English:
“natsukashii” - “Ahh, those were the days.”; “That brings back memories.”; “How nostalgic!”
“mendoukusai” - “What a pain in the ass!”
“bimio” (”bimyou”?) - “Sort of”; “on the line”; if you’re talking about a person as in 微妙な人, “He/She’s something…”
“mottainai” - “What a waste!”
Hi Alex! Thanks so much for the translations!
I know all the translations but I guess I just wouldn’t use them as I would in Japanese… Like just a simple “mendoukusai” or “shouganai” and it’s a whole explanation in itself… or something like that. I know it’s a bimio explanation but…
I do #10 all the time, and I’ve never lived in Japan… but in my case I can blame growing up with Japanese relatives
Hi brain! Thanks for visiting!
That’s interesting… it’s a very handy thing to know…