Wasei Eigo

Wasei-eigo (和製英語, Wasei-eigoliterally "Made-in-Japan English") are Japanese pseudo-Anglicisms: English constructions not used by English native speakers, but which appear in Japanese.

A more general term for made-in-Japan foreign words is wasei-gairaigo, which usually applies to words made from European languages.

It was fun to study wasei-eigo with my older kids today to see if they could work out where they come from and if they knew the expressions we use.

For example:

フロントガラス pronounced 'furontogarasu' taken from the english words 'front' and 'glass'. To the Japanese this means the glass at the front of a car i.e. windshield.

アベック pronounced 'abekku' taken from the Fench word 'avec' meaning 'with'. To the Japanese this means a romantic couple.

And just for fun?!?!

ニューハーフ pronounced 'nyūhāfu' taken from the English words 'new' and 'half'. In Japan this refers to a man that has had a sex change!

The Real Thing

I took so many pictures today and there is so much to talk about. To see just how crazy day was go to http://public.fotki.com/supergenki/april-2008--flowers/

Here are some of my favourite pics of the day

Crazy "let's run across everyone's back" race game!

The boys put their balancing skills to the test!

Such determination!

I haven't seen a maypole in over ten years!

The teams had to perform a cheer infront of the judges

Japanese Students + a camera = posers!

Practice Day

Sports Day in Japan is an interesting tradition. First the kids have to practice for weeks before the actual day. I never understood this at first but I soon realised that although we have teams at home the emphasis is still on personal achievements. In Japan, it is all about the team and although they have some races, a lot of the events are team based. There are no individual throwing or jumping events (not in my experience anyway) and no times are recorded, only the team results.

Today we had a full practice day and it was my first chance to see what the kids have been doing while missing out on lessons.

I love how no one has to worry about what shoes they wear. The kids all have the same shoes and brand names don't matter. They also had to do a folk dance for the finale - I can imagine what the kids at home would say about that!

Can't put it off anymore!

More headaches = New glasses needed!

Happy Birthday Kittie

Kittie got not one birthday celebration but two!

First we headed to Fukuoka where we danced the night away until 5am and then caught the first bus home! It was a very drunken affair and a great time was had by all.

Today we had a much quieter celebration with the Maison Arita girls and cake.
Everything in Japan is CUTE including the cakes!

Gaijin Attack!!

It has been raining non-stop for two days. Because of this the roads are very slippery and an accident was inevitable.

As I cycled home in the dark I was dressed head to toe in black. (I had my black work trousers and a long black rain coat in case you were wondering.) No cars were coming so I cycled across the road with the intention of bumping up onto the pavement and continuing home. My tires had other plans and skidded across the curb.

Everything was in slow motion. I would fall over more often just to experience that feeling as it really is so weird. Your brain is telling you quite calmly that you’re going to hit the floor yet your body can’t seem to do anything about it.

I also caught a glimpse of two very shocked Japanese people on the way down. They must’ve thought it was a gaijin attack but they were nice enough to help me up afterwards so I’m happy about that.

Bruised and sore I cycled the rest of the way home (taking great care) and Dawn and I ordered pizza for dinner to help ease my pain : )

'The' and 'a'

I wish you’d been there to see the tumbleweeds blow when my teachers asked me the following question……

“How do you know when to use ‘a’ and when to use ‘the’?”

“I’m going to buy a new phone”
“I’m going to buy the new phone”

What’s the difference? Which one is correct? Why?

I really enjoy how this job is making me study my own language. English is in my head and I know when to use certain words but the difficult part is explaining it to a non-native speaker.

Luckily I had no classes today and spent the whole day researching the topic.
By the end of the day the confusion had lifted and I was once again the best ALT ever! : )

Kyusendo Caves

What happens when a Brit, a Hawaiian, a Canadian and an Irish person decide to delve deep into the caves of Japan?
The funniest part of the day was when we came across these boxes near the exit of the cave. We decided they were the remains of all the poor cave workers who had given their lives to build such crazy walkways and bridges.

Alas we were wrong and it turned out to be alcohol. (I preferred our story)

Are you Mr. Jones?

School is gonna be good this year! I have more classes, more control and more responsibility!
I still hate the new textbook but I’ll just have to get on with it.

Today was my first class with the second grade students who chose extra English classes. I have no textbooks to follow and so I get to do anything I like as long as they’re learning and using English. I really want them to try this year and so I came up with an opening speech for my class.

In my town there are two restaurants. Each restaurant has its own chef.

Restaurant A’s chef is Mr. Smith. Restaurant B’s chef is Mr. Jones.

Mr. Smith is very good at making spaghetti. He is too scared to try anything else. He knows he is good at spaghetti so he cooks it every day. The people of the town like spaghetti. They are happy to go to his restaurant and pay for his good food.

Mr. Jones does not have one thing he is very good at. He likes to try making different things every day. Sometimes the food is great and sometimes it’s terrible but most of the time it’s OK. The people of the town never know what Mr. Jones is going to cook next. They also don’t know if it will taste good or not.

Which restaurant would you go to?

Most people in the town chose restaurant A. Mr. Smith made his spaghetti everyday and his restaurant was always full. Mr. Jones was a little sad but kept trying.

After a while the people in the town began to get bored of Mr. Smith’s spaghetti. It was very tasty but he made the same thing every day. They decided to give Mr. Jones another chance.

Wow! Mr. Jones had been getting better and better. He made different kinds of food every day and, because he had been trying so hard, they all tasted great. A week later his restaurant was full of hungry, happy people!

Who are you?
What does this have to do with our class?

The steak is the best thing on the menu but if you don’t order it, you’ll never know!

It went down very well and by the end of the class they were assuring me they were all Mr. Jones and would all try to speak as much English as they could.

Happy Birthday Anthony!

How on earth could we celebrate our favourite Texans’ birthday???
Meat, meat and more meat!

This is what the Japanese call “yaki-niku” literally grilled meat. Part of the appeal is getting to cook the meat yourself. This is one my favourite places in town because you pay around 7 pounds and you get 90 minutes to eat as much meat, rice and vegetables as you can and for just a fiver more you get drinks included. You can't go wrong!!

COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!

Dawn, Minika and I are at home today coughing for England. (Well, I’m coughing for England, Dawn is coughing for Hawaii and Minika is coughing for Japan).

I always thought allergies made your eyes and nose run but over here you get a cough!

Minika has been coughing for two months and so she was finally referred to a specialist hospital on Friday. I went with her but even after all the tests they didn’t really tell her what it was (except to say it wasn’t anything serious). She has yet more drugs so hopefully things will improve.

I can’t believe how sick everyone has been this year!

Is this Japan’s way of getting rid of the foreigners?

Back to school and happy news!

Well what a busy week it has been all round.

I went back to school to meet all the new teachers I will be working with this year. Thankfully they all seem really nice and I’m looking forward to teaching with them but the new textbook is awful. There doesn’t seem to be any flow to it; there’s just things scattered here and there. I’m not quite sure where my part starts and ends. Oh well a challenge is always a good thing!

After months of worrying I am happy to report father is at last on the mend. Even though he’s been telling me not to worry for weeks that just hasn’t happened and part of me was getting ready to pack up and return home. Looks like my Japan adventure will continue for a while yet

: )

WOW - This picture is 2 years old - look at that hair!