Crowded Tacos and Human Beans

Another week with little to say. Naoko came over and chilled for a couple of days, which was nice, but I worked both days so yeah...

On Saturday I hit up 5150 for Tacos and Motown night. The Motown was pretty much nonexistent, and the tacos were... Well, let's just say I paid 1,500 yen (about 20 bucks) for one beer and a taco bar that was almost completely blocked by people sitting in the way and wasn't that good anyway. I had one taco. But whatever. 

It was WAY more crowded than I expected. I have never seen 5150 that crowded. I didn't like it, and neither did Mac. Part of the reason I go there is because it's more chill than most bars. It did, however, give me a chance to talk to a couple of JETs from South Africa. We had some interesting conversation topics such as the fact that it is apparently rare for people to be able to recognize a South African accent (I always thought that it was normal since I can do it. I am now curious where I picked up this skill since I have only talked to one or two other South African people in my whole life), the fact that both of them know about 6 languages because of how many languages are stuffed into the same place in their hometowns, the awesomeness that is their native languages (even though they're pretty much the same, they're a different dialect. Apparently there's about 3 "root" languages in the region, so a different dialect can quite literally be a different language or just a different pronunciation. Crazy. Also, Mac and I are both unable to do the tongue click that is part of their language. I tried. I tried so hard. Nothing.), and which kinda chunky celebrity we would have sex with. What? It was a group of about six guys talking over tacos and beer. Wipe that disappointed look off your face and replace it with one of amazement as you realize that only one of our topic conversations involved sex.

Since trains stop here crazy early, Mac crashed at my place. Next day we got some grub, talked a bit, then he headed home.

Monday, I made myself proud. Which is a rare occurrence. Think back over the 7 months I've been making this blog. How many times have I been proud of myself? Yeah, I bet you're excited to find out what amazing thing I did. I bought two bus tickets. Yes, I know that's not awesome, screw you. The things that make me happy are weird and I take them when I can get them. I walked into a travel agency scared and feeling bad that I would be holding up a line full of people while I stumbled through my lines and struggled to understand the travel agent. What proceeded was a fully functional and fluent conversation wherein I didn't once find myself unable to express myself or understand what she was saying. I finished faster than the person to my right that started before me, and the tickets actually go to the place I want to go to on the time I want to go there. This is officially one of the only times I have not felt like a complete invalid in Japanese society. Oh man, that's a rant. Can I resist the rant? Nope, failed saving throw, here I go.

Extremely rare circumstances like the one mentioned above, I think the thing that is bothering me the most about living here is the way people treat me because I don't speak Japanese that well. There's this magical thing that people do when you don't speak their language: they treat you like an idiot. When you ask a question, they don't answer it directly. They start at the bottom, because obviously you aren't able to understand a simple explanation without help. For example, I might ask someone what the word "inu" (dog) means. They will then proceed to inform me that there are these things called animals, and that there are many different kinds of animals, people sometimes buy some of these animals and take care of them, and so on and so on before they finally just say "they're the animals that have four legs, a tail, and bark. People have them as pets." 

Every. Single. Step. Along this magical fucking journey to enlightenment is accompanied by them checking to see if I understand. Sometimes a nod or an "okay" will get me by. Sometimes this triggers them re-explaining what they just explained because I obviously didn't understand it. Now, it's not like this happens constantly. If that was the case, this rant would have come much earlier. Instead, it happens with just enough frequency to really get under my skin. Oh, and don't even try to say "nevermind". They won't let it go. Ever. I need to be given the gift of knowledge because me no understand words make head hurt. -.-

Everyone does it, and I am fully convinced that most hold no malice and don't even realize what they are doing. They want to help, and they are doing what they think will let them do that. They just don't realize that they're doing it in the most patronizing and infuriating way possible, and my Japanese isn't good enough to explain to them how much it bothers me and why (irony much?). My friends do this, my coworkers do this, random strangers do this, even Naoko does it sometimes. That one's the real kicker for me, by the way. The one that really clinches this as something that bothers me. Random stranger does it? Annoying, but whatever. Friend does it? Not the first time a friend has annoyed me. Naoko does it? Ouch. Okay, that hurts. The whole process just makes me not want to ask questions. It has, however, made me very direct with my students because I don't want to do the same to them. They ask a question, I'm sure to answer it like I would to someone who already knows the background info. If they need more explanation, they ask me and I give it to them. Do any ESL (English as a second language) speakers you know a favor and do the same for them; I bet they'll appreciate it.

Random Shit:

1.) Watched the new Studio Ghibli movie on dvd with Naoko while she was over (Ariete or something like that? Has it come out in the states already? It's about tiny people). The subtitles were... interesting. Absolutely flawless except for the fact that we are all apparently "human beans". Not beings. That would be crazy. What's really confusing is that one of the translators had a distinctly Western name. Maybe they were actually using "bean" in some kind of "look, they're different and don't know what to actually call us." I was talking to Naoko, so I didn't really pay much attention to the Japanese... Anyways, pretty damn "meh" overall. Nothing great about that movie.

2.)

Naoko's adorableness is apparently not limited to just me. She made this for her mom. So cute. I like how the middle one is so happy its eyes are imploding.

3.) Stopping by the convenience store with Mac on Sunday, I saw gourmet Cheetos. You better believe I bought that shit hella fast. They were also meh. I would have preferred normal Cheetos.