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Old 01-25-2006, 04:55 PM   #41
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Go away.
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Old 01-25-2006, 04:57 PM   #42
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Cheers for making me look like an asshat in public.

(not entirely sure what I've done wrong)
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Old 01-25-2006, 05:02 PM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mira
I'd like to learn Serbian.
I venture to say it'd be easy to learn, given the fact that you're already fluent in a Slavic language. I was always interested in Russian blonde women myself.
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Old 01-25-2006, 05:04 PM   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by squarejawhero
Cheers for making me look like an asshat in public.

(not entirely sure what I've done wrong)
I'm sorry. That came out harsh.
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Old 01-25-2006, 05:05 PM   #45
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No kidding.
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Old 01-25-2006, 05:07 PM   #46
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I don't like the word asshat. It sounds so...Actually no, I love it! Who came up with it?
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Old 01-25-2006, 05:08 PM   #47
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SJh did.
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Old 01-25-2006, 05:11 PM   #48
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I applaud thee, Squarejawhore.
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Old 01-25-2006, 05:12 PM   #49
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Why, spankyouverymuch Ferrari's.
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Old 01-25-2006, 05:28 PM   #50
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Badhat, badass and now asshat.

Interesting combination of three different words into three new different words.
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Old 01-25-2006, 08:20 PM   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens
No, Scotts. Lucien is right. It [kawaii] translates to 'cute'. Interestingly, if you take away the last 'i' you'd have a girl you'd immediately want to run away from .
In most situations in Japan, people would know what you meant if you said if you said kawai instead of kawaii. However, if you're like me, you've not so lucky. Shortly after I moved to Japan, I met a young couple out with their baby. The little baby girl was just so cute, I couldn't help but say something. So I looked at the mother and told her, "Kawai sou desu ne!" (Your baby looks pitiful, doesn't she!), thinking I was telling her that her baby was very cute. The mother looked shocked and asked why her baby was kawai. I was confused by her reaction and by her question "why?", so I just blurted out the first thing which came to mind, which unfortunately was basically, "Possibly because you are?"

I believe she would have struck me, except that her husband stepped in asked me if I meant kawaii, not kawai. I wasn't sure if I did or not, but it seemed like a good idea to tell him yes regardless. Fortunately that defused the situation, and the couple thanked me for the compliment and let me live. It wasn't until I got home and checked my dictionary for kawaisou that I realized what I'd said.

Last edited by nikoniko; 01-25-2006 at 09:53 PM.
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Old 01-25-2006, 08:36 PM   #52
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And that's how a bad interpreter can mean the difference between an everlasting post-apocalyptic nuclear fallout infected earth, and a lovely peaceful one

At least two of my friends think they'll become interpreters in Kroatian and Russian (that, or teach Dutch in those countries), so I'm pushing them towards interpreting, hoping I'll get to keep in touch with them

Davaj!
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Old 01-25-2006, 09:10 PM   #53
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Heheh, cheeky. Well, apart from the odd word I don't speak any Japanese, but seem to be getting around fine. In general they all want to help out and don't seem any more nervous than I do when I approach them. If anything this is the customer service capital of the world. After asking for directions to the DVD section of a local department store, an English speaking rep chased me down (I'd moved onto other things by then, namely headphones) to tell me in English! So I found myself with the International Edition of Ghost In The Shell: Innocence on my first day. I'm helpless (ask Mira).

So? My first impressions of Omiya before the jetlag kicked in and I went home - this place is like Los Angeles, only not. It's similarly flat, and has tons and tons of low-rise housing, a grid system for roads and cables ahoy, but the streets are narrower, everythings in Japanese and I can cross the road without fearing for my life. Seriously, it's like a really really neat LA. With crossings that chirrup different bird sounds - I shit you not. Although there's something really soothing about a cuckoo noise as you're halfway across a junction.

I've got pics, but I'm too tired to be bothered to upload them. Right now a massive helicopter has gone by and has actually shook the apartment. Really shook it! Don't know what that was all about... which reminds me, I was also rather alarmed by my cousin asking if we had an earthquake last night because one of the doors didn't fit right this morning. Turned out something was blocking it, but as in LA they seem rather blase about major natural disasters.

Now I'm going to take a nap.
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Old 01-25-2006, 09:11 PM   #54
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Speaking of jet lag:



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Old 01-25-2006, 09:43 PM   #55
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I suppose earthquakes are like tornados and hurricanes in that you get used to them after a while and know how to interpret the signs. If you're in a fairly modern building, you shouldn't have much to worry about.
Omiya sounds very nice (though the bird noises at the crosswalks might take a little getting used to). I can't wait to see the photos!
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Old 01-25-2006, 09:47 PM   #56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scottsie
I suppose earthquakes are like tornados and hurricanes in that you get used to them after a while and know how to interpret the signs.
It's like the process of learning how to deal with the bathroom smell after your new roommate takes a shit. You eventually know when he'll go in for a while and you decide to head out for a walk and turn the fans on just before you leave.
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Old 01-25-2006, 09:58 PM   #57
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What a beautiful picture you paint with words, Trep.
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Old 01-25-2006, 10:07 PM   #58
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Quote:
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Eating here is real good - went to a sit down resteraunt last night where the table looks really small with pillows, but underneath it there's a hole dug out for your legs. The top was a hotplate to cook your food...
We have restaurants like that here in the States, too. There was this Korean girl I knew in art school, her parents owned a restaurant in Lakeview (north side neighbourhood in Chicago), and all of us friends from school went there frequently to dine on Korean food. It had private dining rooms that featured tatami mats and sliding rice paper screens, and you had to take your shoes off to enter (woe is he who has a hole in his socks or smelly feet). But the floor under the low table was sunken. Still, I sat with my legs folded (we Asians can do that far more easily than you Occidents) whenever we all gathered for dinner. Built into the tables are stoves for when you order raw beef slices and you cook it yourselves.
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Old 01-25-2006, 10:56 PM   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by squarejawhero
After asking for directions to the DVD section of a local department store, an English speaking rep chased me down (I'd moved onto other things by then, namely headphones) to tell me in English!
Much like doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, "ye shall doe nae harme" (or something like that ), the Japanese salesperson takes an oath, "ye muste doe helpe". As soon as any question is asked, it must be answered; as soon as any help is requested, it must be given. Particularly when a foreigner asks something which is not entirely understood, it is not uncommon for a dozen people to be mobilized to try to find an answer. It may sound impressive, but it's not the most efficient operation, as there's a pecking order to who's called. One must first call the next person up the chain, even if there's no chance that person can be useful. Then that person will call the next one up, and so on, until they finally reach the person who is qualified to help. If you happen to ask the person at the bottom of the chain for help, it may take a few minutes for the request to bubble up to the right person, but once it does, you can expect them to come running... any time lost to inefficiency is made up for with fleet feet.

Don't know what department store you went to in Omiya, whether the big Sogo store or something else, but I'm sure you know about Topos, right? It's a discount department store, sort of like America's K-Mart or Wal-Mart, and last time I was in Omiya I saw one there. It's a bit of a mess, or at least the one I've been in was, what with items being sold straight out of their shipping boxes and having to bring your own shopping bag because they don't provide one... but I guess that's how they keep their prices down. Sometimes you can find some pretty nifty stuff there, and even if you don't it's almost worth going at least once just to see the dumpier side of Japanese retail...
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Old 01-26-2006, 12:32 AM   #60
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The poor girl did seem out of breath...

Topo's... is it made of various different stores? The place I went to had several floors with Sofmap at the bottom. They've got tons of games and second hand items... I picked up Rez for my cousin for 500Y and very nearly bought him Shadow Of The Collossus for around 3900Y but thought I'd better wait and see if I could get it cheaper in Tokyo! Even the second hand 360 games were really affordable, but of course they won't work on my UK box. (em)Enchant Arm is out now here, as is a new Final Fantasy on PS2, Biohazard (Resident Evil) DS and billions of unheard of RPG's... Sony definitely rules the roost in Japan though!

The prices of the latest gadgets here is great compared to how much they cost in the UK. MP3 players especially, some of the new Creatives are around 150GBP which is nice.

As for the resteraunt, it was based around Tanuki (racoons) and featured one of those wonderful big Tanuki statues at the entrance with the massive testicles. Snapped a pic of one in the street too. Coolio!
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