As I think I've mentioned, but perhaps not, I'm moving out of my apartment now because it's 1) too expensive and 2) while I enjoy the large size, it's really bigger than I need and costs a lot to heat/cool. And besides, my town is convenient for work and daily life, but not much fun. So I'm looking for something fun.
Two weeks ago a friend took me to an agency to look at some apartments, just to get a feel for what's out there. Today I called the agency to see if I could go look at some places again. The man starts rattling off in Japanese and I can't understand half of what he's saying. This of course irritates me, not because he's doing anything wrong, but because I've now been here almost 10 months and feel I should understand more. I manage to tell him I want to speak to the guy who took me around last time, and I can sort of understand that they'll contact me again. Of course, I know why I couldn't understand what he said: he was speaking keigo. Keigo is the elevated, very polite form of Japanese that people use with others of higher status or, in this case, customers. I don't know any keigo, and believe it or not, the words are very, very different.
When he calls back, he again starts rattling off in keigo, and I had to ask him to speak "normal Japanese." And presto, just like that, I could understand maybe 75% of what he was saying. I shall have to remember to do that from now on. Frickin' keigo.
The other funny thing is the picture below. You may have to click on it to get a larger size so you can read it, but I saw it while walking in Osaka last Monday and was damn happy I had my camera. Why it's there, I haven't the faintest idea...and yes, it's hanging on the side of a building for everyone to see, though most people probably haven't the slightest idea what it says.
3 comments:
Check out this website.
http://www.engrish.com/
Yeah, that's a funny site, I've seen it before...I think if you live in Japan, it's like mandatory reading. :P
that's fu_____ funny!
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