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Friday, July 30, 2010

The Japanese-Speaking Miriam

Would you like to get to know the Miriam Cho who speaks Japanese?


-       The one whose pitch is three notches higher than her English?
-       Who cries out すみません! after even the slightest accidental brush against someone’s foot?
-       Whose number one phrases are 〜てもいいですか? “Is it all right if I do this? And this? And THIS?”
-       Who uses あのう to preface every sentence …
-       And adds けど after every sentence to avoid sounding too direct?
-       A person who, when asking a favor, will take at least 3 lines to get to the point:
あのう,質問があるんですが。。 “Uh, the fact is that I have a question…”
〜についてなんですけど。。 “The fact is, that it has something to do with it…”
実はね。。。 “The truth is … (and finally the question pops out here)”
-        And if she REALLY wants to be polite, will drop phrases like 〜せていただけないでしょうか? “Could I not receive the favor of your letting me do …?”

Or do you want to know the American Miriam Cho, the one who has no qualms about complaining if she’s annoyed, who ignores the signals at every crosswalk and eats when she walks, and who’s a little irked as to why her personality changes so much in Japanese?

Which one would you rather know?

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

How my Japanese is getting better (and every other foreign language exponentially worse)

Sapporo's famous Miso Ramen. Delicious, although Hakodate's Shio Ramen is definitely the best.

Every so often when I’m walking somewhere, I try to think in another language just for the heck of it. I’ve realized that I dabble in languages too much, and I should just really focus on mastering at least one outside of English, but I’d like to retain somewhat of a base in the other ones I’ve learned. I don’t this too often, and today was the first time in a while, so I expected it to be pretty rusty. Turns out that I couldn’t even say, “I want to go to the store to buy it” in Spanish anymore because all these Japanese particles and words kept creeping in:

1. “La tienda voy” – wait, something’s up with the sentence order…
2. “Voy la tienda para …” (oh joy for particles)
3. How did you say “I want” again in Spanish? My brain was subconsciously trying to conjugate a verb that ended in 〜たい. It took me almost twenty minutes for “quiero” to pop in my head.

Finally FINALLY I managed to spit out, “Quiero ir a la tienda para comprarlo.” Whew, a year of no Spanish is definitely taking its toll on me. Kind of regretful, but maybe it’s also a sign of progress in eventually being able to think in Japanese? I remember having random Spanish and Korean words popping into my head during Japanese class, especially for words that I hadn’t learned yet. (I never found out how to say 계속 in Japanese until I asked another student a few days ago. Would have been really useful beforehand…) But now, I guess the opposite is happening. Actually, it's overly slanted toward the other end of the spectrum. I was Skyping a friend yesterday who was craving to speak in Korean because she’s been in Russia for the past few weeks, but I’m sure she wasn’t expecting an “あのう” and “そうですねえ…” every five seconds. (Needless to say, our Korean conversation didn’t last long.)

Hello Kitty melons? Sold right outside the Sapporo Beer Factory

That’s why I really admire people who are bilingual. I sometimes tutor ESL students at an elementary school in New Haven, and it’s amazing to me how these kindergarteners transition so easily from Spanish to English. I have even more respect for people who can switch between languages that aren’t native to them. I also find it interesting that while my Spanish and Japanese occasionally mix together, my English and Korean never do. Why is that, you wonder. Well, duh, English and Korean are nothing alike. Oh, but wait, that’s the same for Spanish and Japanese… Well, then, it’s probably because the first two are my native languages*, while the other two aren’t. But wait, does that mean I’ll experience this mixing phenomenon with every foreign language I learn?

Too pretty to eat! (At Ishiwa Chocolate Factory)

Japanese is also the only language in which my speaking/listening has surpassed my reading/writing. This is because, of course, that I absolutely suck at kanji, but also because of the fact that the beginner Japanese classes I’ve taken have always emphasized speaking. And I’ve always said that I’d rather be able to speak a language than be able to read it (this is ESPECIALLY true for Korean). Yet it’s still a little embarrassing when Asaoka-sensei calls on me to read a paragraph in class, and I’m like, “Um … 何何〜” at every other word because it's some kanji I've already forgotten. Need to start picking up my game! (Or figure out a way to implant the "kanji gene", Foyer-san's newly coined term for when Chinese kids in our class already know the characters.)

By the way, I really am growing quite a fondness for natto. The containers at the hotels were all right, but homemade natto made by Okaa-san is even better. I think it's one of those foods where the more you eat it, the more you'll like it... 

*So actually, what counts as a native language? I’m always at a dilemma when they ask me to fill out this part in forms and such. In technical terms, Korean is my primary native language because I didn’t learn English until preschoolish (even then, I had a pretty bad accent until first grade). But obviously, I'm nowhere near and never was fluent in Korean. Ah, how quickly one forgets languages if they’re not in use! 

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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Low Point of the Curve

I think I tried to prepare pretty well for the low point of the study abroad curve that the Light meetings warned us about, but I didn’t expect a low point in the homestay as well. So there are endless benefits to doing a homestay, and I’ve already gushed about how much my speaking has improved. But I’ve come to realize that I’m too much of an independent person to last in a homestay for long. Overall, I truly believe homestays are a better option, but let’s face reality:

·         For someone who’s been cooking (um, I mean microwaving) her own dinners since sixth grade, I miss being able to eat whenever/whatever I wanted. Noontime lunch to 8:00 dinner is a stretch.
·         After the super groggy feeling of getting up at 5:15 a.m. every morning, I have a newfound appreciation for the 8:30 a.m. alarm I set during freshman year (it turns out my host family has breakfast at 6 on Saturday and Sunday mornings too – I feel like such a baby when I go to bed at midnight, and they sleep even less than me).
·         I’ve been craving fruits and meat like CRAZY. An-san has resorted to calling me a carnivore because I get super excited whenever the supermarket has a sale on meat, and I eat a crapload of fish and chicken for lunch to stock up on protein for the day.
·         Lately, I’ve been finding it harder and harder to get speaking practice. Otou-san just opened a new shop in Sapporo, so my host parents are pretty busy these days, and we don’t really talk much outside of dinner. I feel like my listening skills are pretty stagnant right now (especially without any use of タメ語), and even my speaking seems to have peaked.

Ah, I really do complain too much, but my excessive venting has made me decide to be proactive about it. Can’t do much about the eating/sleeping situation, but with the last three weeks of HIF, I realize I should be doing more on my part with the homestay:

·         Find a variety of topics to talk about. Read the Japanese newspapers, notice interesting things I see on my way to school, ask questions, etc. You can only talk about the weather for so long… 
·         Watch more TV with the family after dinner (yes, watching TV would be a plus in this situation).
·         Start listening to some J-Pop/K-Pop to practice more タメ語 with Riko because she’s always plugged into her Ipod.
·         Consciously try to use new vocab and grammar in conversations. Not necessarily the ones I learn in class either. I’ve actually been making use of the black notepad the Light fellowship gave us to write down new words, but sadly, my short-term memory isn’t letting me remember them when I hear them again.

Last but not least, shoutout to the Light fellowship for giving me this opportunity. I feel like I’m such an ungrateful child these days…

UPDATE: Started the music endeavors with Riko today in addition to watching Howl's Moving Castle which was showing on TV after dinner. I passed out in the middle though -- I guess I have a legit excuse to start napping in the afternoons ;)

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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A Country's Happiness

In general, Japanese people are extremely nice. So nice, in fact, that it almost becomes uncomfortable. From the ever-enthusiastic “いらっしゃいませ!”s to the cutified animals on posters and signs, I can’t help but wonder if Japan’s affinity for “happiness” is masking something much deeper within. Surely, the store clerks at the supermarket must get somewhat annoyed with me when I take forever in the checkout line (mostly because I’m trying to get rid of all my 1-yen coins). And during the month I’ve stayed with them, I haven’t heard Otou-san or Okaa-san or Riko yell once. Actually, the most they’ve done is playfully scold each other. They might argue behind closed doors, but because of the way the house is built, I’m pretty sure I would hear them if their voices even rose a notch…

The only instance of “unhappiness” (if you can even call it that) that I’ve witnessed in Hakodate so far is by the sea. I described the elderly people walking by the ocean in the morning from a previous post, but I went another time in the afternoon and saw a larger crowd of people doing the same. A middle-aged man in his bicycle smoking on the beach. A younger woman parked alone in her car staring off into space. Of course, I’m not claiming that all of these people were depressed, but they certainly revealed a different side than the unfaltering smiles and rehearsed phrases from the tram driver.

On that same afternoon, I also crawled onto the cement barrier separating the road from the beach, but was startled to find bits of metal and trash strewn across the sand. For a country that blocks its lawnmowers with giant screens to stop stray grass from getting onto the street (see below photo), it was unsettling to find so much trash on Hakodate’s beaches. As such, it seems like the beaches aren’t much for recreation, even though almost all of Hakodate borders the ocean.

Only in Japan...

The routineness of everyday life is also unnerving me – I adore my host family, but they never fail to stray from their daily schedule of work/school, grocery shopping, making dinner, watching TV, and taking a bath. Of course, there are things like school festivals and art exhibits at the shop, but they seem to go through the motions so naturally. Dinner conversations pleasantly flow around the weather forecast and whatever else is in the newspaper, reminding me of an American 50s sitcom. Then again, I am one to hate on suburbia. And my faith leads me to believe that this life holds something greater than earning a living. But even then, I could almost appreciate an occasional complaint from Riko or even a raised eyebrow from the supermarket clerk.

I wrote one of my papers last semester on something that may be loosely related to this: the conflict between giri and ninjo, or social obligation and personal feelings, in Japanese society. Now, I really dislike generalizations and stereotypes, and I know that Japan has changed a lot from the staunch loyalty to one’s household in the feudal age. But at the same time, the spotless politeness and daily routines are somewhat unsettling. Do people really find happiness in all of this?

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Thursday, July 8, 2010

To Use or Not to Use タメ語

(First couple of pictures are from my birthday dinner, everything handmade by my wonderful host family. I also got to try my hand at the pizza and the roll cake, but of course, Okaa-san was with me every step of the way.)

One of my goals this summer was to be able to speak Japanese in a natural speed without having to think too long about what I wanted to say. Of course, I still lack the vocab for a lot of situations, but I’m amazed at how much a homestay will improve your speaking – language pledges are great and everything, but after being around actual Japanese people for almost a month, I can sometimes pass for a functioning, comprehensible human – (SOMETIMES – other times, I still sound like a three-year-old). I’m even daring to use the causative/passive tongue-twisters, “I was rained on,” “I was made by so-and-so to do this,” etc. So about a week ago, I decided to practice more タメ語, or tamego, the casual style used for friends and family members. HIF warned us not to use タメ語 with our host parents, but I still get tons of practice with Riko and other HIFers. So much, in fact, that I’m starting to carelessly use it with the 先生. Uh-oh. Sometimes, I catch myself just in time to add 〜んですけど…, which is more commonly used when you’re commenting on a mutually known assumption, but for me, it’s a cheat way to make something polite in about .3 seconds.


This pic actually makes me look like I'm successfully making a roll cake! (although this was not the case at many points in the process...)


Nowadays, I sometimes let タメ語 slip to my host parents too, but for some reason, they still use the neutral style to me, especially Okaa-san. I really wish they would just use タメ語 so I could practice listening too. (Whenever Riko starts one of her rants about school or another, I usually crash and burn.) Riko says it’s because I use the neutral style in class, but of course, we covered タメ語 in first-year Japanese at Yale – we just never USE it. The director from Wheaton College had definitely caught onto something about working in a coffee shop. Maybe I can mention something to Okaa-san about it, but once again, I’m wary of sounding too direct. Oh, the unbearable Japanese politeness.


My talented Okaa-san

Made completely by hand!

Then again, I remember mentioning in my Light application how much I appreciated the different levels of the Japanese language. It's a challenge switching back and forth between friends and strangers, especially when they're in the same room, but I think it gives the language a sense of sophistication. Same for Korean too, although I'm starting to appreciate Korean all the more for not having to figure out who's in-group and who's out-group... 

Didn't realize how much of an international crowd we had - China, France, Bulgaria...

We also had a lecture this week from a professor who taught Japanese in Germany. It was pretty dry, but one of the questions in the question-and-answer session was whether 敬語 "keigo", the super-polite form of Japanese, would ever cease to exist. As long as the Japanese found it useful for showing respect in job interviews and welcoming customers in stores, he replied, it was here to stay. Although outside of that, it seems that the younger generations are using it less and less. Riko says I probably don't need 敬語 unless I want to work for a Japanese company in the future. Also, the female and male forms are slowly blending in together -- once, I used ~to one of my Japanese friends at Yale, and she burst out in laughter. Guess they'll update the textbooks sometime or later...

Lucky Pierrot's infamous whale burger - tasted like a cross between pork and chicken, only extremely deep-deep-fried. Hakodate's quirky fast food joint only sell 20 a day because of the concern about whale hunting in Japan, and afterwards, Pankova-san made me feel extremely remorseful for my deed.


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Thursday, July 1, 2010

Temples, Shrines, and Cemeteries, Oh My!


Proof of my THIRD time eating natto (a Japanese food made from fermented beans that the Japanese are supposedly crazy about … and foreigners absolutely despise). I usually like bean-based dishes so maybe that explains my tolerance for natto, although I admit it’s not something I would consider going crazy over.

Onuma trip last weekend was certainly memorable, as I tried out an onsen for the first time (a public hot bath notoriously famous for practicing the Japanese way of going in stark naked). The HIF students were a little clueless at first (at one point, Ning was like, “Um, do we take off all our clothes now?”), but it wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. I also tried Hokkaido's famous いかすみ ice cream (squid ink) at Onuma Park. Despite its inky taste and the fact that it was the same shade as cement, it was delicious!!



Stopped by a gift shop after the shrine. So 上手!

In the past couple of days, I’ve also been hopping around a lot of neat places in Hakodate. Yesterday, Ning, Jade, and I visited a nearby Shinto shrine after class and struck up a conversation with a local who was also visiting the shrine, asking him about the proper way to enter a shrine, his work in Hakodate, etc. Three weeks ago, I wouldn’t have dared to approach a Japanese person, but improved speaking skills and a desire to improve even more is certainly making a difference.


The grounds of the shrine. According to Ning, the slips of paper are fortunes that people hang up after receiving them.

Today, we also visited a Buddhist temple as part of an HIF excursion. Somehow, part of our group wandered off into the cemetery area, so we waited for them while everyone else left. It turned out be a good thing, as our guides asked us if we also wanted to visit Koryu-ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Hakodate, which was right around the corner. Unfortunately, most of my pictures inside the temple were blurry because of the light, but even then, they wouldn’t have been able to capture the elaborate statues adorning the shrine and the soothing scent of incense that's always wafting in a temple. 

The shrine room of the first temple.

Somewhat disturbing, but I would love to be able to translate these kinds of things in the future...


The Buddhist Paradise, elaborate as always. I managed to squeak out, "This is the place people go to when they die, right?" and the priest got super excited, ranting about the role of the Amida Buddha at one's deathbed. Unfortunately, he thought I was Chinese, but props for my freshman seminar on Buddhism that I took this spring. 


Decorated statues at the temple cemetery for infants that died prematurely.

Gate to Koryu-ji

We also continued our wandering into the Foreigners’ Cemetery and through a tiny fisherman’s neighborhood that’s actually my favorite running route in Hakodate so far. 

Apparently, the newspaper seller wasn't famous enough to have his name remembered.

In addition to the Foreigners' Cemetery, Hakodate also has a Chinese cemetery and a Russian cemetery. Needless to say, the 花屋s nearby are rolling in the dough.



Props to Connolly-san for taking such an awesome picture.

Morning run today on the other side of Hakodate had also been beautiful, even on a foggy day. I passed by a lot of elderly people sitting by themselves the beach, immersed in thought to the gentle sound of waves and the bellows of fishing boats in the distance. Life seems much slower in Hakodate than in America, and I wish that I too could have as much time to ponder over the day’s events… 

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