If you enjoyed my last blog entry, be sure to check out http://www.engrish.com.  It’s a hilarious compilation of bizarre English found in Japan as well as other Asian countries and it appears to be updated almost daily.  Take the time to check out some of the Engrish categories listed on the left side of the main page.  We all need a good laugh once in awhile and anyone who can wander through this site without enjoying a hearty laugh is taking life much too seriously.

Thank you, Janis, for bringing this site to my attention!

At first glance, it would often seem that we’re surrounded by English here in Japan.  Sometimes referred to as Japlish or Engrish, a term which arose from the ambiguity between the “l” and “r” sounds in spoken Japanese, it appears on everything from poorly translated signs to bizarre t-shirt slogans.  Looking for examples can be hugely entertaining and I’ve been known to whip out pen and paper on the train, at school and even in church to write down some of the best ones!

Examples can be found even at home.  The bottom of one of my frying pans has this interesting quote, “The wonderful time where there are a wonderful cooking and a pleasant conversation and peaceful music.”   The bags from our local bakery are really quite poetic.  They say, “Women baking bread on Sunday  With flour dusted cheeks  They push up their sleeves  And at the breadboard knead  With strong fingers, hands and bodies.  Warm and yeasty, the kitchen is Filled with promise.”

T-shirts are the most entertaining, though, and they are absolutely everywhere.  Sometimes, even though the message seems rather garbled, it’s possible to find some meaning in what they say.  For example, “Float a ship on the sea and the foreign country which wants to go” and “Love is walking hand in hand  We is sharing your popcorn” caught my fancy and “BePunctual  A special delivery mailbox  Set one’s watch” seemed to be trying to say something.  T-shirts worn by little girls and grown women often sport sayings such as “Shine of Treasure” and “Special Love Magic” but I wonder what message the wearers are trying to give when they wear things like “The secret of deliciousness” and “Delicious Flavor Source” blazed across their bosoms!   I suspect that they often have no idea what the slogan means.  After all, did the young lady wearing the “Little Miss Jailbait” t-shirt really mean to give that impression of herself?  Some are much worse.  In fact, when Matt and Robin were here, they saw one that Matt wouldn’t repeat in my presence and Richard has seen at least one that I wouldn’t print here!

Spelling mistakes are not uncommon.  For example, one of the children at church was seen wearing “Texas Burguer Favorite Cheese” across the back of his shirt and I had to write down “Right Shine in the Nught for you to tell you that dream” when I saw it on the back of a sweatshirt on the train platform!

Perhaps the funniest examples are the ones where it seems like someone has just opened a dictionary, chosen words at random and strung them together in no particular order.  “Love You Message to Keep Brilliant My Head” is one such example but my absolute favourite is “fascinating nude makes a stomach sold presently”!  What do you make of that?

Signs are fun too.  Here a few of my favourites.  The first one is in our local train station and, after looking at it many times, I actually do understand what it’s trying to say!

This one’s in Yoyogi Park in Tokyo.  We never did figure out whether or not it was okay to walk down that path!

This one, on the grounds of a temple at Kamakura, is my all time favorite.  I have no idea about it either!  There was no water anywhere in the vicinity!

Oh, how I love Japan!

Today could have been a day for missing home and family but instead it was absolutely wonderful and we are just as happy and stuffed as if we’d sat down to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner! Though they had no idea that it was a special weekend for Canadians, our friends Koji and Etsuko had invited us to their home for dinner.

After our usual lunch at church, we accompanied them to their house where the feasting began almost at once. First, Etsuko served coffee and a delicious ‘western’ cake stuffed with fruit and cream. That was followed immediately by Japanese cake and green tea. Shortly after that they informed us that, rather than preparing supper at home, they’d decided to take us to a nearby restaurant for sushi so back into the vehicle we piled and off we went! The highlight of supper for Richard and I turned out to be the unagi! Who would ever have thought that eel would be part of our Thanksgiving dinner or that we would enjoy it so much! It was absolutely delicious. The eating wasn’t over yet though. Once we finished at the restaurant, we went back to the house where we were served a dessert of fresh grapes and Japanese sweets along with more green tea! Wow! As much as I love turkey and pumpkin pie, I didn’t miss it a bit!

Of course, Thanksgiving isn’t only about the food. The fellowship around the table is just as important and oh, did we enjoy that today too! Koji and Etsuko were two of the first people we met when we started attending Hope Church. They’re about our age with grown children and several young grandchildren. Koji speaks English fairly well but Etsuko knows only a few words. In spite of that, she and I hit it off right away and it’s amazing how often I can understand the gist of what she’s said before Koji even translates! It’s hard to explain but there’s an understanding and a bond there that seems to go beyond words. What a wonderful visit we had today, getting to know one another better as we shared some of the joys and heartaches of our lives.

We had anticipated that once the visit was over, Koji would drive us to the nearest station and we’d take the train back home but, in spite of the fact that it meant an hour’s round trip for them, they insisted on delivering us to our door. Chances are that we’ll visit them at home again but our big hope is that they’ll visit us someday, not here in Japan, but in Canada!

When we rode the crowded train home from Tokyo on Thursday evening we witnessed first hand large numbers of tired businessmen making their way home after a long day at work and I was once again reminded of a phenomenon known as the weekend father. When I taught a Japan unit in junior high Social Studies back in Canada, I remember asking the students what they thought this term meant. Based on their own cultural experience, they assumed that I was referring to divorced fathers who only saw their children on the weekends. In Japan, however, the term has a completely different meaning.

Many people living in our area work in Tokyo. They spend an hour or more on the train every morning and every evening. Their workday is a long one and when it’s officially over, the men are often expected to socialize with their coworkers before heading for home. These are the the weekend fathers; men who leave the house every morning before their children are awake and who get back home long after they’re in bed.

Toshikazu, one of my students from last term, is a perfect example. He has a six-year-old son that he adores. Hobbies are very important to the Japanese people. Everybody has at least one. When you ask Toshikazu what his hobby is, he tells you it’s playing with his son. If you ask him what he would most like to do if he had more time, he says he would spend more time talking with his son. He only sees him on Saturdays and Sundays. Somehow that seems very sad.

As I saw the tired men standing on the platform waiting for Thursday evening’s train, some with their eyes closed because they were so tired, I couldn’t imagine doing that every day year in, year out and I wondered how many children yearned to spend more time with them and how many lonely wives waited at home.

Richard certainly wouldn’t have thought that he might have the chance to help build a house while he was in Japan but that’s exactly how he spent his day off yesterday!

Pastor Steve and Shelley’s house is an amazing & exciting project to be involved in. The entire house package – precut lumber, windows, siding, even doorknobs – was put together in the US, loaded into a container & shipped to Japan. Apparently that’s more cost effective than buying the materials here. I understand that Shelley’s brother, who works in construction in the States, had a lot to do with putting the whole thing together. Not only did all the building materials arrive from overseas but two carpenters from the the US also arrived this week and under their very capable direction, the work is progressing rapidly. Apparently they’re very good at making use of the unskilled labour provided by volunteers from our church.

Perched on a hilltop, the building site itself is also an amazing story. Originally they were dealing on a different piece of land lower on the hillside but it was decided that building the retaining walls that would be needed to make it usable would be too expensive. For whatever reason (obviously a God reason) the landowner ended up offering them the lot on top of the hill for the same price as the lower land even though it’s actually worth a lot more. It’s bigger than most Japanese lots and looks out over the rooftops of an entire neighbourhood below.

Richard is delighted to have the opportunity to take part in this project and would happily be back there again next Thursday except that it’s our first weekday off together as well as our anniversary and I have other ideas!

A new term begins next week and with it comes a new schedule. We’re pretty happy with the changes. From now on both Richard and I will have Thursday and Sunday as our days off. That means being able to spend a weekday together sightseeing and enjoying more of this fascinating country.

In addition to being delighted with shared days off, we’re also pleased that there are less changes to our existing schedule than we had anticipated. For the most part, we’re keeping the same classes and students that we’ve had this term. That hasn’t always been the case with MIL. In fact, it appears that in the past a term change has usually meant a huge reshuffling of teachers. Of course, that hasn’t resulted in much continuity for the students. For example, I have one adult student who’s been studying at MIL for ten years and has had 18 different teachers! Needless to say, his English hasn’t progressed the way it ought to have.

There are several classes and individual students that I’m especially pleased to be able to continue working with. I’d have been quite heartbroken if I’d lost my Saturday morning playgroup – four adorable little preschoolers. Then there’s Rie, one of my Monday afternoon ladies. She and I have hit it off so well that she actually wrote a letter to the school owner requesting that I continue to be her teacher! Unfortunately, Richard is losing the adult student that he’s developed the best rapport with but overall, the changes are good and neither of us is picking up too many new classes.

Another concern was whether or not I’d be able to continue attending the ladies meetings at the church two Wednesday mornings a month if I didn’t have Wednesday as my day off anymore. Fortunately, I’m not scheduled to begin teaching until 4 o’clock that day so that won’t usually be a problem. It will mean that I’ll sometimes have to attend a staff meeting on our day off as they are held at noon most Wednesdays and Thursdays and I wouldn’t make it back from the church in time for the Wednesday meeting. I think we can manage to plan around that though.