Help I'm trapped in a stairwell and I can't get out

Every once and a while I start to feel really intelligent. My Japanese is improving, I finish a project without being told I suck, or I just make it through the day listening to Japanese for 8 hours without getting a headache.

But don't worry, I won't get a big head about it or anything, because as soon as I start to feel smart, Japan reminds me that I am not.

Today I was expected to stay late for a training within my division. However, it was really just three of my coworkers telling us about the training sessions they went to. So it was a big old waste of and hour and a half of my time.

It ended around 6:30. It was the latest I had ever been in city hall before and I was dying to get home.

There are two exits to city hall and I always take the main exit, not the employee exit. The mayor's office is on my floor so the elevator on the employee exit side does not stop on the floor unless you have a special key. I do not. So I take the main side elevators.

Today I left the office at 6:30. When I got to the elevators, I realized they were shut off for the night. That should have been my first clue.

So I took the stairs down to the first floor.

When I exited the stairs, it was dark in the main entry hall. That should have been my second clue.

But I walked toward the automatic glass doors. By this point I was a bit nervous and I figured they might not open. They didn't.

I tried the back door inside the main entrance, but it was locked.

I couldn't get to the employee exit because they had shut the gate that leads to it. So I went back to the stairs to try to get up to the second floor to get to the employee exit.

But the stairs were locked.

So I was trapped in the main hall of city hall.

I remembered a stairwell in the center of the room leading down to the basement, so I went there hoping to get to the parking garage or something. I wound up back in the same stairwell...luckily the door was unlocked.

BUT...the door to the 2nd floor was locked.

The door to the 3rd floor was locked...

And just when I thought I was going to have to call my boss and tell him I had trapped myself in a stairwell, I got to the 4th floor. Thank God for the hardworking people on the 4th floor. The door was wide open!

I made it across the 4th floor and down the elevators on the other side...but the door to get outside wouldn't open.

The security guard stood there and laughed at me as I pulled and pulled, until I realized I had to turn the lock.

It was almost 7 by the time I actually escaped city hall.

Kyoto Newspaper

And I'm famous. Well not really, but I wrote an article for the Kyoto Newspaper recently and it ran today. People I have never met were coming up to me and saying "I saw your article in the paper. It was really good. Did you write it yourself?"

Aside from the unfortunate photo of me (I did not know I was going to be having my photo taken that day) I am really quite proud of the article.

And here it is...


I figure I should include an English translation for you all. I am doing this quickly so if it sounds strange, I apologize. I tried to insert any information that a person who doesn't know any Japanese would need in order to understand the article.

"That group of guys over there seem really high tension."

When my Japanese friend told me this, I turned and glanced at the men across the restaurant from us. I replied "Huh? They look like they are having a great time." My friend gave me a very confused look. I was confused too. It was the first time I had ever heard the phrase "tenshon ga agatteiru" but I knew that "agatteiru" means increased or high and since "tenshon" is just the Japanese pronunciation of "tension" I figured as a native speaker of English I pretty much understood what she meant. But in English, "tension" means stress or nervousness. The Japanese use of "tenshon" is much different and the phrase comes out to mean something like "having a really good time" and is often used about drunk people who have low inhibitions.

Once I began studying Japanese, I soon learned that Japanese uses a lot of words borrowed from English. It is almost as if in order to really understand Japanese you must have at least some background in English. But then again, being a native English speaker does not mean that I always understand the Japanese adopted English. Actually I find those borrowed words to be the most difficult to use properly.

First of all, the pronunciation is completely different. When I first read a word that was originally in English (denoted by the style of writing, called katakana), I often have to look at it for a long time and try to pronounce it in different ways until I get it. Suddenly a light goes on and I realize that "uirusu" (oo-i-ruu-su) is actually "virus." Also, a large amount of these borrowed words, like the aforementioned "tenshon" is actually Japanese-English, or English created by the Japanese. It sounds like English but it if I think of it as English it is just nonsense. For example, the Japanese often say "Rebberu appu" (Level Up) or "Pawaa appu" (Power Up) when talking about improvement. These phrases probably came from video games but we never say that in English. They also say things like "Mai baggu" (My bag) about a shopping bag they carry with them to the store in an effort to be Eco.

They also use many English words differently. For example, the word "Kanningu" (cunning) means "to cheat (on a test)" in Japanese and is a verb. But in English cunning means "sly" or "sneaky" or "smart, but with negative connotations." So "kanningu" is actually Japanese.

Although most native speakers of English would think of these Japanese-English phrases as nonsense, that doesn't make them bad. In fact I think it is great. Language is a living thing. I mean, English is not pure English. It is a mish mash of Latin, French, German, etc.

There are even words in English that came from Japanese. When we say "just a skosh," that word "skosh" is from the Japanse word "少し sukoshi" which means "just a little." But I think most Americans don't know that.

I think that the creative use of English within Japanese shows that it is a colorful, lively language. They take words that have been borrowed but give them a Japanese spin, making very interesting phrases. I think it shows the linguistic creativity of the Japanese. Japanese is not static, but dynamic and every day I enjoy learning new phrases.

But I think it is very important for Japanese people and students of English to keep in mind that this Japanese-English is not actually English, but is Japanese. Oftentimes this becomes a barrier for people studying English. If you use Japanese-English to a native speaker, they probably won't understand what you are saying. So when speaking English or writing in English it is important to use natural sounding English.

Foreigners take great enjoyment in finding really weird English written on Japanese T-shirts and making fun of it. We even have a word for it: "Engrish." It's funny for foreigners but isn't it a bit embarrassing for the Japanese?

MUSE

Last night The Boy and I ventured to Osaka for the Muse concert. It was my first major concert in Japan and I was not disappointed. In fact I was very pleasantly surprised by how similar to America it really was.

The arena was just like any other, a large oval with the back curve closed off with the stage in front. There was standing room only on the floor and then the seats in the stands were almost filled up.

A group of foreigners even started the wave which eventually made its way all the way around the arena. I thought that was kind of awesome. I'm always intrigued by how the small actions of a few people in a giant arena can suddenly be picked up by everyone around.

Usually Japanese people don't really seem to get into concerts, at least the ones I have been to. But when the band started playing all the people on the floor started jumping at the same time. It was kind of hilarious. But it was even funnier that they were all jumping at the same time and thrusting their fists in the air at the command of the band because the song they opened with had very Orwellian themes and the lyrics go "They will not control us." Yet three people on a stage were able to control the whole arena. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8KQmps-Sog

I was actually really impressed with Muse live. Normally I think concerts are fun but that the music itself sounds better on an MP3 or CD. Usually it sounds a little off. But the music was very clear and much more powerful live, which made it that much better.

Kameoka Christmas Light Up

So, Kameoka does a huge Christmas light display every year out in front of the station. It is....tacky. And therefore awesome.












This one is my favorite...a sheet of lights draped messily over a tree. Merry Christmas!

I can't staple!!!!!

Today I learned how much like a child I am when it comes to Japan.

I was finally put in charge of a project completely. I had to fill out the form that gets passed around for approval, completing the project (although it was nothing more than Christmas cards), and putting it all together.

At the very end I had to staple to form, an example of the card, and a list of the address to where they would be sent together into a little packet to be sent around the office for approval.

So I put them together and put a staple at the top left corner. When I turned it in to my boss she handed it back and said, "No no, you have to put two staples on the side."

So I went back to my desk and re-did it. when I handed it to her again, she laughed and said "No no no. They have to be in a perfectly straight line and further apart than you have them."

Apparently stapling in Japan is an exact art and I failed miserably (T_T).

You've Gotta Show Me, I'm From Missouri

Today The Boy and I decided to go see the exhibit on the Ainu at the Kyoto Museum. I had studied the Ainu people in college but did not know much about them.

It was a really interesting exhibit. There was no English so I took what I could from it, but I really enjoyed seeing how the Ainu lived. They are from the Hokkaido region which is far north and therefore very cold. It was amazing to see they ways they devised to avoid the cold and also their jewelry and tools.

The most shocking thing however came toward the end of the exhibit. I was looking at a few formal necklaces when I saw one with a very large silver pendant. It seemed a bit out of place so I looked closer.

Then, I saw that it was actually a large coin. A coin with the phrase "You Gotta Show Me, I'm From Missouri" engraved on it.

I was floored.

There I was, in Kyoto, JAPAN and there was a pendant from the indigenous people of Japan that had a coin from Missouri. It turns out that a group of Ainu had visited Missouri in 1904 for the St. Louis Worlds Fair.

I just thought that was the coolest thing ever. I really wanted to take a picture but there were too many people around (T_T)

Oh, it's just an Earthquake

So today I was sitting at work. At about 3 pm the floor shook a bit. It was barely noticeable, but I looked around. No one else seemed concerned to I thought I had imagined it.

Then, one of the men in the meeting going on at our center table stops and goes "Oh, an earthquake." They all nod and go back to work.

Oh, just an earthquake. That's like saying "Oh, just a tornado."
Crazy.