How Japanese Addresses work

...and other cultural opposites. Via sivers.org.

Culture Shock redux

Even after living in Japan for seven and a half years or so, little things can still surprise me. Sort of a culture aftershock, maybe? These little things are very different from the things that caused culture shock back when I first came, though.

Like spending an hour in conversation (in Japanese) with about ten people in a coffee shop, without a net (i.e. sans dictionary).

And after that, stopping at a bookstore on the way home to pick up the latest issue of アフタヌーン and reading through this month's chapter of ああっ女神さまっ (Ah! My Goddess), again without dictionary. (I'm gonna have to go through it again with the dictionary in hand, just to check, though.)

And, while at the bookstore, seeing at least four different collections of the speeches of Barack Obama, one or two with a CD, one with DVD, made for the purpose of helping people study English. (I've seen at least two or three different translations of "Yes We Can." 私たちは出来る？　我々は出来るはと?)

This isn't the first time all that "sans dictionary" stuff has happened to me before...but it's been a while since I've had opportunity to try, what with working nights and all. I'm pretty glad I can still do it, though I've gotten a little rusty. Alas, time to hit the books again.

Nope, still irrational

I'm still in shock over the whole Nodo Jiman thing. I should be studying. I should be studying the song that I'm supposed to sing. I'll start that tomorrow, right after calligraphy class.

Maybe.

The way the show works is this: There's an application period where aspiring amateur singers send in postcards with the appropriate information. Name, address, age, song, and why you want to sing that song. After the application period is up, the powers that be choose 200 applicants to come in the Saturday before the broadcast, to audition. From what I can tell from this postcard, applicants must bring a recording of the song with them.

Then, from 12:15 to 6:30 or thereabouts, the applicants audition, and a panel of judges choose 20 who will actually appear on the television show the next day.

On the day of the show, the twenty contestants march in, and do their thing. The typical contestant only gets to sing maybe one verse/chorus of their song, after which the chimes are rung. If they ring a rising whole step, the contestant is out. A few words of condolence, and the next contestant goes.

If they play a couple of arpeggios followed by a rising major 3rd and then a descending half step, then the contestant is a finalist.

After all the contestants have gone, a couple of guest singers perform while the judges make their final decision. Then, the winner is announced, and everyone goes home...

Holy $#{%

...was my reaction when I got the mail this morning, before I went to work.

Remember that television show I mentioned a while back? The one called のど自慢, the amateur singing show?

And the fact that I sent in my postcard, to try to get on this show? And how I thought that I might have sent it too late?

Well...

It wasn't sent too late.

In about a month, I'll be one of about 200 people vying for 20 spots on this show, which will be broadcast live (!) the next day.

Ah...um...

What the hell am I thinking?!?

What is culture shock?

Culture shock is the stress and confusion caused by the little differences.

For example:

Today at work I commented to one of my co-workers that in America, when little kids draw the sun in the sky, they usually color it yellow. This actually freaked her out for a few minutes.

(Japanese kids usually color the sun red.)

She was less freaked out by the whole snowman thing, though.