Rocking in Hakata

My principal delivered a rousing speech at our close of the term ceremony today. Predictably, it involved exhorting the students to be polite members of society, illuminating the meaning of the word “greeting,” and a fishing anecdote. (I know I’m being sarcastic - but I should really give my principal fair credit - he’s actually quite good at public speaking, and I usually enjoy his orations. He’s also got a great voice for speech, so he’s easy to listen to. And he seriously almost never uses filler sounds. In short, he’s a pro.) Anyway, my base school is pretty militant about greetings and formalities. One of the higher compliments you can pay to the baseball team, for instance, is to say that they always greet you flawlessly. (While most teams love it when you tell them they play well or have excellent sportsmanship, greetings are the top for us.) Anyway, I learned that the kanji for “greeting” are not 常用漢字 (jyouyou kanji), or part of the standardized set of Chinese characters for use in everyday life, and are in fact 当て字 (ateji), or phonetic equivalents. But they do have appropriate meanings.

挨拶する = あいさつする = aisatsu suru = to greet
挨 or ひらく (開く) + 拶 or せまる (迫る)

So…if I understood properly, and correct me if I’m wrong, the meaning of the phonetic equivalent characters is “to open up” and “to draw near.” My principal spoke of it in terms that made me imagine it as opening a connection between one person and another. It was cheesy, but effective. Then the little anecdote about fishing came up. Basically, 2 guys go fishing. They can’t even catch a single fish. At the end of the day, one guy expresses his frustration at the situation. The other guy concludes that it was a pretty great day regardless of the lack of fish, because he spent it with his friend. Awww. Yes, it was a bit of a Chicken Soup for the Japanese High School Student kind of speech, but I think that’s purposeful. Lots of the announcements (and homeroom activity surveys, even) had to do with bullying, internet crime, and other stuff. I don’t think it’s a particularly bad problem at this school in particular, really. But I think it’s precious that the teachers try to instill proper attitudes about life in the kids during assemblies. Ha ha. Anyway, school’s out for summer! (For the students. Not the teachers.)

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Genghis Khan: Man or Mutton BBQ?

Yes, that Genghis Khan. Or Чингис Хаан, or Chinggis Khaan, Činggis Qaɣan, or just plain Temüjin to his mom. If you’re confused, I’ll explain. It recently came to my attention (again) that the vast majority of my high school students hear this name and think of a dish associated with Hokkaido. It’s basically grilled chunks of mutton, though some dictionaries call it mutton barbecue. You see, if you’re talking about the person, you don’t say ジンギスカン (Jingisukan), you say チンギス・ハーン (Chingisu Haan).

Here are the definitions given by my ancient Canon G50 Wordtank.

ジンギスカン
[人名] Genghis Khan ((アジアの大部分とヨーロッパ東部を征服したモンゴル帝国の始祖；１１６２？－１１２７))
[料理] ジンギスカン鍋 (a) mutton barbecue

Genghis Khan
チンギスハーン, ジンギスカン (成吉思汗) (c. 1162-1227) ((モンゴル帝国の祖(在位1206-27)))

ジンギス-カン
ジンギスカン料理
羊肉の焼肉料理.薄切りの羊肉を,ニンニク,ショウガなどを加えた醤油（しょうゆ）のたれにつけ,独特のなべにのせて焼く.(現)
★蒙古料理を連想させる名だが,現地にはない.北京料理の烤羊肉（カオヤンロウ）の変形.

Now, the same definitions fully in English (romanized to show the differences).

Jingisukan
[Person's Name] Genghis Khan ((The founder of the Mongolian Empire that conquered most of Asia and Eastern Europe; 1162? - 1127))
[Food] Jingisukan Nabe: (a) mutton barbecue

Genghis Khan
Chingisuhaan, Jingisukan (成吉思汗) (c. 1162-1127) ((Founder of the Mongolian Empire (reign 1206-27)))

Jingis-Kan
Jingiskan Cuisine
Grilled meat dish made with mutton. The mutton is cut into thin strips, dipped into a marinade with a soy sauce base and garlic, ginger, etc. added. Then it is grilled on top of a special type of pan. (Modern)
★The name of this dish associates it with Mongolia, but it does not actually exist there. It is simply a variation of the Beijing dish called 烤羊肉 or kaoyanrou.

Note: 成吉思汗 is apparently how the name Genghis Khan is written in old Chinese characters. You can see the original Mongolian script (pulled from Wikipedia) here too, though. In Japanese, these kanji don’t retain the readings necessary to pull the same sounds out. I asked if the were effectively ateji (当て字) or phonetic equivalents, but the answer was that they are not Japanese ateji. But I imagine that somewhere back along the line that they were just phonetic representations of the Mongolian name made with Chinese characters. (Unless his name was “to become, good fortune, thinking, sweat,” that is.)

So, like I was saying, my kids know nothing of the Mongolian Empire or its founder. Instead, this legendary man’s name has become the word that they use to describe a touristy mutton dish fed to people on their class trips to Hokkaido. Awesome. It reminds me of a similar word re-appropriation. This time, a whole group of people. The word is “Viking.” If you’ve been in Japan for any length of time, you’ve probably had a “viking” lunch. (Check the bottom of the disambiguation page for the reference under “Other Uses.”) You see, “viking” means “all you can eat buffet” here. Not the Norsemen with funny helmets who ransacked European port cities and whatnot. No, really. Those guys are ヴァイキング (Vuaikingu). Here are the definitions. I like the extraneous ones entries, sometimes.

Viking: Norse Pillager or Buffet Lunch?

Viking
-n
1 ヴァイキング, ヴィーキング ((8-11　世紀に欧州の北部および西部を略奪した北欧人));[v-]海賊;((口))スカンディナヴィア人
2 ヴァイキング((米国の無人火星探査機；１９７５年に２機打ち上げ))

バイキング
1　[西洋史] a Viking
2 (バイキング料理) (a) smorgasbord; バイキングの店 a buffet-style restaurant offering as much as one can eat for a fixed price

バイキング
1 スカンジナビアに住んでいたノルマン人の異称. ８－１１世紀、船に乗ってヨーロッパ名国を侵略.
2 バイキング料理
バイキング計画 [Project Viking]
NASAの火星無人探査計画.１号は１９７６年７月に、２号は同年９月に打ち上げ、７７年７月軟着陸に成功.火星の極冠が二酸化炭素の氷の他,水氷にも覆われていることなどを発見した.(現)
バイキング料理
食べ放題料理.一定の料金であらかじめ用意された１０－２０種類の料理をセルフサービスで好きなだけ食べられる.(現)北欧のスモーガスボード[smörgåsbord(スカンジナビア式の前菜)]を日本向きに改称,昭和３３年（１９５８）帝国ホテルが始めたのがおこり.

And again, for a romanized half-translation of the above definitions.

Viking
-n
1 vuaikingu, viiking ((Norsemen who pillaged northern and western Europe in the 8-11　centuries)); [v-] pirates; ((slang)) a person from Scandinavia
2 Vaikingu ((American unmanned Martian probe; 2 launched in 1975))

Vaikingu
1　[Western History] a Viking
2 (Viking cuisine) (a) smorgasbord; Viking shop: a buffet-style restaurant offering as much as one can eat for a fixed price

Vaikingu
1 A term used for Normans who lived in Scandinavia. In the 8-11 centuries, {they} rode boats and invaded Europe.
2 Vaikingu Cuisine
Vaikingu Program [Project Viking]
NASA’S unmanned Martian probe program. #1 was launched in July of 1976, and #2 was launched in September of the same year; in July of 1977 they succeeded in making soft landings. They discovered that the Martian polar caps were covered by frozen carbon dioxide, ice, and water, among other things. (Modern)
Vaikingu Cuisine
All you can eat cuisine. For a set price, one can help themselves to anything they like from a selection of 10-12 dishes prepared beforehand. (Modern) Northern Europe’s smorgasbord [smörgåsbord (Scandinavian style hors d'ouevres)], renamed to suit Japan. The Imperial Hotel started the trend in Showa 33 (1958).

Fascinating what you learn when you look stuff up. Anyhoo - if you know of any other interesting changes, leave them in the comments. (But remember - Japan has no monopoly on turning people and people groups into foods, so feel free to include any country’s additions.)

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Credit goes to Kathy for this find: a brief bit of Japanese in the midst of a crazy American made English language kids’ movie about a group of singing chipmunks. I’ve spliced together the two relevant scenes. Since I used the time codes so generously provided, I’ve still not seen this movie and cannot tell whether or not I am accidentally giving anything away. So…apologies if I ruined your personal screening of the film. (Somehow I highly doubt it. ) Ha ha. “See, you love it, it’s Spanish!” Nice. I am incredibly skeptical about all three of the dolls’ languages. Not one of them sounds accurately pronounced. Then again, they are just prototypes. By the way, does anyone else get the feeling that they took this movie way more seriously than they should have?

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So…I generally haven’t read manga up until now. Why? Well, I am not even close to literate in Japanese and am wary about what part of the store I’m standing in. After all, in video shops, you end up hip deep in porn as you travel along the friendly family animations wall. It’s not entirely ridiculous to be overcautious. Also, the only manga that I’d had any exposure to was the wildly frilly for-girls type stuff or the robot stuff. What an incredible mistake! At long last, I’ve tried one, and found that I dig it. It’s called ダーリンは外国人, or My Darling is a Foreigner. (And, interestingly enough, the second book in the series addresses foreigners’ misconceptions about manga. Ha ha. Irony.)

The first book is all about the dating life of Saori Oguri and Tony Laszlo. Saori is obviously a Japanese woman. Tony is an American of Hungarian heritage. Also, he’s a freaking genius. Ok, maybe that’s overstating it, but he is quite gifted when it comes to linguistics. Anyway, the first book in the series (orange cover) follows the adventures that these two have when the move in with one another and start life together. The Japanese is pretty easy to follow, in my opinion. That makes it a quick read. It’s under 200 pages, and if my average is anything to go by, you can kill it off easily in 2 sittings. I tend to read between 80 and 100 pages at a time, anyway. (This holds true for the second book -yellow cover- as well, especially because it includes furigana to aid foreign readers, but not for the third - green cover. The third one deals with pregnancy and childbirth, and thus has loads of words that I’m completely unfamiliar with, so it requires more extensive use of the dictionary…)

Anyway, some really goofy stuff is brought up in their relationship, but there are more thoughtful and meaningful moments too. An example of lightheartedness might be the anecdote where Saori desires to be called by some sort of pet name. The movies she was watching featured romantic nicknames between loved ones, so she wanted one. Tony’s sort of apathetic to the whole thing and apparently doesn’t want to create one from obligation, so he doesn’t. Saori, undeterred, decides that if he won’t call her by a pet name, she’ll call him by one. She decides on “my wolf,” to Tony’s dismay. Tony later nicknames her after a tree, I think, to her dismay. They really enjoy teasing one another. An example of a more serious note would be the search for an apartment to share. When it is learned that Tony is a foreign man, loads of places turn them away. Saori notes that that was the first time in her life that she’d ever truly experienced discrimination. (But they don’t get preachy about it. They note the problem and basically encourage change without getting melodramatic. I really appreciate that.)

The second book deals with married life. It involves more cultural interaction, and similarly touches on ridiculous things and problematic things. I already mentioned that it launches into a castigation of foreign misunderstanding of manga. I cop to that, but apologize, and have changed my ways. Other fun items include an overstep by Saori’s mom, who calls Tony 「あなた」 at one point (and later asks to be called 「お母ちゃん」, which is also shot down). That drives Saori up the wall. She’s bothered by how close Tony and her mom have become. (Tony’s mother in law even tends to side with him in arguments with Saori…ha ha ha.) It’s a funny territorial issue. In this series, Tony always has little mini-essays interspersed with the types of short giggle-worthy frames that I’ve given you a glimpse of here. It’s pretty easy to follow, and tends to bookend the themed sections of each release.

I liked the first book so much that I went to a store and bought the other two immediately. I also picked up this book - 「ダーリンの頭ン中」 (Inside Darling’s Head). It’s apparently his thoughts on the study of language. I’ll be reading that one next, as soon as I’ve finished the third book (”with baby”). (Wow. As I am writing this, another teacher here walked over and handed me another one! 「母に習えばウマウマごはん」 - a sort of manga / cookbook from the same author? Cool!)

Anyway, I’d really love to know what your impressions are about the series if you’ve read it. Also, I’m unsure about where to go from here, so if you’ve got any suggestions for me, please drop them in the comments!

Bonus: Translations of the frames I included here.　(You can click on them for bigger versions, by the way. Just not on the book covers themselves.)

1. アルパカ　トニー
Alpaca Tony

2. バレバレ 冷蔵庫にお茶を取りに行くときのトニー　
冷蔵庫にチョコアイスを取りに行くときのトニー
Busted! This is Tony going to the refrigerator for some tea. This is Tony going to the refrigerator for some chocolate ice cream.

3. 気づいて！ 電車の中で…　ガタン　ゴトン　「あっボクと同じケータイ！」　ぐっ　気づいてー　ブンブン　「あぁ…」　「満足…」　ハッ　「このあとどうすればいいのか…！！」　ナンパと思われたかも！？　「忙しく作業する　フリをするのだっ」　あー忙しい忙しい　「社交的なのか　シャイなのか」
Please notice! On a train… chugga-chugga chugga-chugga “Hey, she’s got the same cell phone I do!” Oof Notiiice… woosh-woosh* “Aaah.” “Satisfaction…” CRUD! “What do I do now?” She might have thought I was hitting on her!? “Pretend to be busy… Withdraw from the situation…” Cruuud….busy busy busy. “Is he sociable or shy, which is it?”

* I actually think this is more like a fluttering noise. Kind of like a hummingbird’s half buzz-half hum- half drone-half flapping sound. Yes, it is a mathematically complex sound with 4 halves. Got a problem with that?

4. ざんげ　姉と電話していて　うん　うん　「それで？」「それでね…」　「そのときに　あ～ん　あ～ん」　「あっかのこ泣きだした？」 「よーし　負けないぞーっ　あ～ん　あ～ん　う～わ～ん」　ちょっ…ちょっと…　あ～ん　会えば　「おいでー　私がホントのお母さんだよー」といって洗脳しようとします…　すいません…　友だちの子どもにもやります…　ほんとすいません…
Confession -on the phone with my older sister- mm hmm mm hmm “And?” “Well…” “Then- WAaaAaa” “Ooh, Kanoko’s crying?” “Ok, I’m not going to lose to her. WaaAAaA WAAaaAAa AAAhhhaaaWaaaaaaAAa” He-hey*… -if we get to meet- “Come here, I’m your real mother…” I try to brainwash her by saying stuff like this. Sorry. I do it to my friends’ kids too. Really sorry.

*- Kind of like, “Whoa. Hello? What’s the big idea?”

Also - apparently Debito doesn’t like Tony much. I don’t know the guy in real life, but I quite like the fanciful character in the manga. And I don’t always agree with Debito anyway. But it’s curious, anyhow. Dunno if it’s a turf issue or legitimate. Oh well. (I’ll just go on with my current idealistic appreciation of everybody, believing that they’re all nice people until they prove otherwise to me. It’s all my poor little brain can handle.)

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I’ve done it! I’ve joined Lang-8. I couldn’t help it. Everybody has been raving about it, so I thought, you know - I should give this a try. I wrote my first entry this afternoon about an interesting animate / inanimate verb problem that was discussed earlier at Victory Manual. Within 2 hours I had 2 revisions completed for me, with easy-to-follow markup. I can see who changed what and everything. In short: this site’s hype is well deserved. This seems like it has great potential as a learning tool. I went ahead and corrected 2 or 3 other people’s entries in English to embrace the spirit of the site. Anyway, I wanted to welcome you to join and be my friend. Also, I’ll be adding a small banner on the left side for the site. Cool stuff. I kinda wish I’d joined earlier. Ha ha.

UPDATE: Doh! I’d be a fool not to point you to Koichi’s post about how to use Lang-8, and also his video review of the site. (If you look at the Lang-8 questionnaire right now, loads of people are mentioning these posts. Nicely done, sir.)

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