Thanks, Yuna

Source.

Rude Boy: My father thinks liking figure skating is “gay.”

President: Watching hot girls in skimpy costumes is gay?

I touched recently on how I'm kind of a huge fan of Kim Yuna (or Yu-na, or YeonA), undoubtedly my very favourite athlete. I don't really care about the rest of the sport; I just like Kim Yuna. This is because she's fucking adorable, and – almost as importantly – because she's an amazing figure skater. Drinking with President at a small bar last night, I outlined my opinions.

Rude Boy: She is perhaps the second most attractive female Korean athlete. Glad you asked! Ee Seul-bi, the third from the Korean Women's Curling team.

Although it's close!

When I was a full pitcher and two pints deep, President pointed out that her short program had come on the TV behind the bar and I kind of lost my shit. Then she told me to calm down, because she didn't want people to think we were weirdos.

And then tonight I watched her long program. Holy. Fuck. Her adorably made-up face. Her beautiful costume, perfectly tailored to show off her smooth, muscular back. And, you know, her performance itself! I'm no sports writer and I lack the vocabulary to explain it, but I thought it was fucking rad. Like, seriously, is there any art form that matches the combination of elegance and excitement of figure skating? Or, for that matter, any figure skater who matches the elegance and excitement of Kim Yuna.

Not for my money. Not for the commentators', either, as after the Russian girl went (I forget her name because she's dead to me), one of them explicitly said, “Well, she's not on the level of Yuna, but that was a great performance.” The judges agreed, at least about it having been a great performance. In fact, they thought it was better than Yuna's.

Which it very well was fucking not. Not even close. I watched the Russian girl's long program and it was really just ok. The commentators were like “wtf.” I was like “President, I just...this is...gwarrrrghuhhhh???????!!!!” exactly like that, because it was a text message. Seriously, you've gotta be fucking me. SILVER? Bullshit. This was the one thing I'd been waiting all Olympics for and I'd been kinda assuming Yuna just had it, and after watching her skate I assumed it twice as hard as I had been already. And then this happens. Fucking robbed. [UPDATE: If you disagree or don't know what I'm talking about, here's an analysis by The Korean at Ask a Korean! explaining.]

Asada had kind of a disappointing finish, although she managed to bring herself up from 16^th after the short program to I think 8^th in the end by putting out what I heard was a fairly excellent long program, so I was hoping she and Yuna might square off again in a media-manufactured rivalry kind of a way, and then place a distant second. But I'm happy she was able to at least partially redeem herself. This is a Japan blog, so this paragraph satisfies the quorum for requisite Japan-related content per post. Because mostly, Kim Yuna.

And now I'm hearing that she's retiring from competitive figure skating? Terrible. But I guess I understand. Next winter Olympics, she'll be 27, and so probably not in any serious contention for a medal. At least, that's what President thinks. I want to believe she could have one more gold in her. And that she could have other things in her, as well.

Sigh. What is it with Russian figure skating judges and cheating all the time? First Jamie Soleil and David Pelletier, and now this shit. It's like they've misunderstood the Olympics and think that it's supposed to be a competition amongst judges, to see who can be the most corrupt.

Whatever. She's first in my heart.

Gaijin Tales! Wrapping up

I accrue Gaijin Tales anecdotes gradually and throw them up on the blog when I have a bunch. I've maintained a fairly consistent schedule of doing one every 2-3 months, but that doesn't always have much to do with when a particular story took place, as I often remember and then write down things that happened long before. Keep that in mind as you read what will be the last Gaijin Tales for a while.

*

Rude Boy: three strangers in two days have treated me like a normal human being!

Jugs: Nice!

*

Insufferable Dumbass, listen to me. You're not taking on an enemy army. You're not fleeing the cops. You're not even performing a complex and sensitive science experiment. You're making dinner. Calm the fuck down.

*

On my last visit to the Pokemon Centre, during Deranged Dave's stay, I picked up a few more Pikachus. Until that point I'd actually assumed there was only a set for the respective city of each store; I was dead wrong. It may have been limited sale, but anyway, I picked up some representatives for Kyouto, Koube, and Nara. The Kyouto one was Pikachu wearing a Shinsengumi uniform! Only, this raises the question of whether or not I now have to collect every single one produced.

Um. Let's say no.

Then Mother Russia went on vacation and brought me back an Okinawa charm as a present. It's Eevee, which is different from the rest of the set...but it's from Mother Russia, so who cares. :3

*

One thing I've noticed about drilling Korean vocabulary is how useful it is to see the hanja. It seems that Korea still uses traditional characters, but obviously I can still read them for meaning even if I can't write them. This is quite helpful for remembering not only the pronunciation of many words (such as seonbae, a direct cognate from 先輩), but even the words themselves; “desk,” for example, is chaeksang, which is fine and all, but much easier to call to mind if you know that is written 册床、i.e. a “book-bed.”

This raises a question: I would assume that most beginning English-language Korean textbooks don't show the hanja, since it would be meaningless for most, so how the hell are you supposed to learn all these words? I guess it's just rote memorization, which, admittedly, I had to do to learn both the equivalent Japanese words and their kanji, but I sure am glad I don't have to start from zero again.

*

For a while there, every time I would go to 7-11, Cologne would ask where I was headed. Rather than simply answer him, like a normal human being, I would always say “Your mom's house.” This continued until finally one day he asked me: “So, do you wanna make a trip to my mom's house?”

Somehow we managed to get everybody, both English- and Japanese-speaking, to start calling it “Cologne's mom's house.” We're going to Cologne's mom's house, I wonder if they sell that at Cologne's mom's house, etc.

Yeah, it's one nonstop party in this dorm.

*

I just realised that my World of Philosophy class is a huge confluence of a bunch of otherwise unrelated spheres of my life, as I have now seen that my classmates include three girls from English Club, a guy from English Club, a guy from my Enjoyably Study Korean, and one of the girls who works at Cologne's mom's house.

*

Cologne to Tiny Chinese Girl: So on Thursday, just shower after you eat takoyaki!

*

Japanese teacher: I teach Japanese language to foreigners, of course, and I also teach Japanese students how to be Japanese language teachers. And I guess the main difference is, when I ask foreigners if they understand, they all yell “Yes!!” and scare the living daylights out of me. And when I ask the Japanese students if they understand, I get silence...and then I ask again, and if I'm lucky, I get (nods slightly).

*

Politics teacher: You treat this classroom like it's an extension of your living room!

Rude Boy: Makes sense, I treat the living room like an extension of my bedroom.

Everyone who lives with me: (laughs mirthlessly)

*

Mother Russia: i don't think i can go, i popped an inlay so i have to go to the dentist

Rude Boy: omfg are you ok???!!!

Mother Russia: thanks...yeah it's fine as long as i don't bite anything...best diet i've ever had, haha

*

I've won a lot of nice things from the periodic draws at Cologne's mom's house, but I also once won a little bottle of this absolutely vile-looking old guy energy drink that no one in the history of the world has ever wanted.

Two days in a row.

*

Rude Boy: Why do you feel the need to write your name all over every single thing I own? Fucking look at this shit...my textbooks, my homework, my computer, my arm...what, are you fucking marking your property or something?

Mother Russia: Hahahaha, I'm like a dog!

Rude Boy: Then I go to read my fucking book one day and I find this! (Indicates bookmark, which she pulled out of the book, placed on top, and wrote “HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!” upon next to a picture of a smirking pig.)

Mother Russia: Hahaha! Did you find your page again?

Rude Boy: Yes, because I remembered the number for some reason.

Mother Russia: Oh. Damn.

*

After watching like 25 episodes of Sailor Moon in three days, my way of speaking became extremely girly for the next several.

*

President: U drunk?

President: Lol

Rude Boy: maybe

Rude Boy: but not as drunk as you're about to be

*

Rude Boy: Jesus! It wasn't raining at all when I left the house.

Clerk at Cologne's mom's house: That's right. It wasn't raining up until just a little while ago, yes?

Rude Boy: Yeah. Man, I didn't even bring an umbrella.

Clerk: (to second, older clerk) Oh, there was an umbrella, wasn't there?

Second clerk: There was! (runs to the back)

Clerk: There may be an umbrella that someone forgot at the store.

There was, and they gave it to me. This is why I love 7-11 service. Also: Bullshitting with strangers 1, shyness 0.

*

Insufferable Dumbass: (to family over Skype) Yup, I think I lost the Speech Contest because I was meant to be a soccer referee.

Anarchy in the UK: (under breath) No, you lost the Speech Contest because you're awful.

*

Mother Russia: (pauses movie, removes headphones) Is this enjoyable for you?

Drunk Rude Boy: Kinda yeah.

Mother Russia: You can't even hear!

Drunk Rude Boy: (intentionally overselling) Just being with you is fun enough!

Mother Russia: Wow. Barf.

*

Rude Boy: What's Stonehenge actually like? I imagine it being like surrounded by city now, like that thing in the middle of Mecca.

Anarchy in the UK: No, it's in the middle of a giant field...that's actually so big the army uses it to blow things up.

*

Insufferable Dumbass: A lot of the people in this house don't speak well English.

*

I saw a girl walking down the street, carrying an entire door. Couldn't even decide if that seemed strange or not.

*

Lithuania: Do you know this site? It's like, for finding pen pals.

Rude Boy: A fucking website for finding pen pals? That's...that's like teleporting to the train station!

*

Cologne: I don't know if I want to go there, I hear it's just a bunch of Germans.

Rude Boy: You should totally go. You're great at German.

Cologne: But I don't really feel the need to practise.

*

At YVR I recognized a girl I'd sat near at Incheon.

A few days later, I saw her at my university.

Lonesome Road

As soon as Udon sees me off, I'm alone. From here on out, it's all strangers and solitude. I'm riding to Umeda, but instead of the excitement I would normally feel at a day or night of fun ahead, I just feel drained. Fuck it. Here we go. I really am leaving Japan. Well. Fuck.

I get hung up at Umeda because I fail to realise that I need to make my transfer at Oosaka, and spend over an hour wandering around like an idiot, but it's so hot and I am so goddamn tired, I just kind of go with it. Important point is, at no time do I feel nervous. Concerned, yes, but it's all purely intellectual. I've grown.

I'm riding the express but do not realise that there's an additional cost associated with this until a guy comes around to check my ticket. He addresses me in Japanese and does not bat an eye when I speak it back to him, I pay the difference and he gives me a ticket, and I slump back against the wall, not at all embarrassed about having made a mistake. The train pauses for a while for seemingly no reason; the old ladies near me speculate that it's either regular maintenance or a suicide. One of the two. I reach my station and disembark. I have to say, it has been my experience that carting luggage around the major transit centres is no big thing, but as you wind away into the local stations it becomes increasingly burdensome, in this case requiring a series of confused elevator rides just to reach the opposite platform.

Easily locating my hotel, I have a lengthy and detailed conversation with the guy at the front, and not once does he remark on the unprecedented multitasking of my speaking Japanese while being foreign. I appreciate the compliments, I really do – but from time to time it's nice to have my ability to communicate in the language of the country I live in not be pointed out like it's a fucking UFO sighting. I head to 7-11 to print off my electronic ticket, which seems to contradict the whole “electronic” idea, but I accomplish the deed while barely paying attention. I am so in control.

It's late and the train ride took hours. But I've arrived! At least now I can relax. Well, I've misplaced my fucking cell phone charger, but nothing I can do for the moment. Fortunately, Jugs is online, so my final sad, lonely evening doesn't devolve into a totally self-congratulatory emo wankfest. But then...

[5:56:13 AM] Rude Boy: OH WOULD YOU FUCK RIGHT OFF. the documents i printed at 7-11 i now cant fucking find

[5:56:46 AM] Rude Boy: WHAT

[5:56:47 AM] Rude Boy: THE FUCK

[5:57:57 AM] Jugs: :c

[5:58:29 AM] Rude Boy: im leaving japan

[5:58:34 AM] Rude Boy: im leaving a lot of things

[5:58:47 AM] Jugs: bb, i can' even imagine how hard this is for you

[5:58:53 AM] Rude Boy: i am so. incredibly. fucking. tired.

[5:59:07 AM] Jugs: but i can promise you lots of hugs in canada

[5:59:27 AM] Rude Boy: it is SO MOTHERUFCKING HOT JUST FUCK RIGHT THE FUCK OFF THREE MONTHS LAREADY SERIOUSLY FUCK. OFF. JUST FUCK. OFF. no more plz. no more of this fucking heat. i am so fucking tired

[5:59:46 AM] Rude Boy: i cant even

[5:59:48 AM] Rude Boy: i cant do this.

[5:59:57 AM] Rude Boy: i am actually just

[6:00:02 AM] Rude Boy: WHJERE THE FUCK ARE MY DOCUMENTs

[6:00:47 AM] Jugs: you totally can do this

[6:01:18 AM] Rude Boy: i actually am almost breaking down right now

[6:01:33 AM] Jugs: you not being able to do it isn't even an option in anyway

[6:02:05 AM] Rude Boy: it is so fucking hot

[6:02:07 AM] Rude Boy: where are my documents?

[6:02:11 AM] Rude Boy: where?

[6:02:13 AM] Rude Boy: where? :(

[6:02:17 AM] Rude Boy: where are my fucking documents? :(

So far I've concealed my emotions, but that one little thing has made me snap. Thankfully, Jugs is an awesome person and stays online to talk me through it even though it's already morning in Canada. And I do eventually find the fucking things, thank fuck. Unfortunately, I can't reply to the message that Udon has almost certainly sent. I feel pretty bad about that.

In the morning, I catch the shuttle to Kankuu. From this point forward, the idea that I might speak anything other than English does not occur to anyone for the rest of my life. At Immigration, an old man punches a hole through my gaijin card, but then he gives it back, an unexpected souvenir.

I'm staring down the barrel of 25 hours of continuous travel; a duo of pointlessly long stopovers have conspired to try and make me kill myself. More than anything else right now, I wish for a companion. Not even to help me work out my complicated transfers and baggage dickings-around; it's cool, I will do all of the thinking, I will make all of the decisions. I will be the grizzled world traveller. It's only that it's going to be fucking boring. I want someone to bullshit with. Seriously, I'll take almost anybody. I'd even take a particularly calm and astute child at this point. Well, maybe not Insufferable Dumbass. I'd leave him at home. It defeats the purpose to bring someone who will make the trip feel even longer.

At Incheon, I find that I'm actually remembering many of the areas I passed through the first time around. Is this what it's like to be a capable, experienced international plane person? I'm sorely tempted by the “Experience Korea” souvenirs, but decide that it's a little tacky to buy something from an airport gift shop without ever having actually seen the country. Maybe if Korea still sparkled...

An Indian guy about to begin studying in Canada gets cornered by one of the dumbest people I have ever heard words slough out of. He asks how long he's lived in Korea (five hours), and why he didn't go visit the ocean if he had so much time between flights (are you...really?). He then inquires as to why he didn't just take a flight directly from Mumbai to Vancouver, all at once demonstrating that he knows absolutely nothing about international travel, or geography, or humanity, or the laws of physics. I try to bury myself in the book that I started reading at YVR a year ago – The Sun Also Rises, turns out it's pretty great – but his exuberance bores itself straight into my brain. Oh hey! Looks like I did bring Insufferable Dumbass with me! I am finally saved when he convinces the Indian guy to go line up for the plane shortly after it arrives at the airport. Eventually I follow in their wake. Some guy has tried to take my window seat. Haha, no.

I watch Iron Man 3. It's bad.

Setting right my mistake of nearly a year ago, I order the bibimbap. The flight attendant asks if I've ever “tried” it before, which seems a little condescending, but how is she to know that I'm not a moron. Good luck I didn't pick JAL. I'd Kansai-ben their ears off and then we'd ALL feel awkward. Still though, you take everything they give you and mix it together, it's not fucking hard. The meal is quite tasty. In my experience, Asian food survives the transition to “airplane food” most intact out of any cuisine.

I watch a Chinese movie called “Finding Mr. Right.” It's surprisingly good! It's about a young Chinese woman who goes to America to have her sugar daddy's baby so that the government doesn't force her to abort it, but then she meets people there and plot ensues. You should watch it. Also the main girl is gorgeous.

All the Korean movies are action movies and supernatural thrillers. Why can't I just watch a silly romanticomedy? I want to learn “You had me at hello,” not “Make him an offer he can't refuse.” The only Japanese movie heavily involves dogs, so that's out, too. Luckily I'm tired. My strategy was to stay awake as long as possible in order to sleep as deeply as possible, because I know that once I fully wake I'll pretty much stay that way. Time to make out with the cabin!

I stir from my slumber and crack the window. Still dark outside the plane. The moon is reflected against the wing, and I crane my neck to peer up at it. This high in the atmosphere, there's little between us but space. Crazy.

When I wake again, the people beside me are eating breakfast. A small sign has been attached to the seat in front of me: “While you were resting, we were unable to serve you. Please let our service staff know your preference.” It earns points for saying “resting” rather than sleeping, but then immediately loses them all by making it sound like I'm causing problems for them. How about “It is our policy not to disturb passengers while they are resting. Our staff would be happy to serve you at your convenience.” See, I could totally be in marketing. A guy comes by and asks me for my choice, with an attitude suggesting that his job would be so much easier if it weren't for all these fucking people trying to fly to places. His pronunciation is frankly terrible and the only option I understand is “omelette” so I take that even though I know it will be an abomination. I can't finish it.

Then I'm in Canada again, somehow. White people everywhere. Negotiating yet another labyrinth of signage, and then Immigration – I don't like the bullpen style of YVR. Kansai and Incheon are a little clearer and more streamlined. They've installed a new “electronic border guard” system since I was last here. Did you guys know about this? You scan your passport and then your paperwork, greatly speeding up the process and, presumably, lowering the airport's overhead (no pun intended). An automated female voice even warns me that border services will have some questions for me.

A young, blonde woman frowns at my customs paperwork and, not unkindly, asks, “You have unaccompanied baggage with you?”

Well, no, ma'am. If I had it with me, it would be accompanied baggage.

Anyway, I end up getting a customs receipt so that I won't have to pay tax at the post office (as what I'm importing is within my exemption), so it turns out that it pays not to lie to the government. Very, very occasionally.

At Tim Horton's, I fumble with the coins, barely recognizing them.

Learning Korean

My Korean teacher is a badass. That's a horrendously overused word and I don't toss it around lightly. He earned it. He teaches Korean with an attitude like, “Oh, it's you people again. Well, I'm just going to think out loud about Korean now, maybe write some things on the board. It's part of my process. You're welcome to stick around and experience it if you wish.” But then when the time comes he is very careful about actually going around to each student in the class of about twenty and making sure they have all, individually, understood the concept he has introduced before he moves on. Sometimes he'll pick somebody at random and quiz them. He doesn't hand out undeserved praise, and he'll laugh at incorrect guesses – but not in a way like “Haha, God but you suck,” more like “Look, we are learning a language! Isn't this cool?!”

He also has the looks to be an actor, a penchant for tardiness, a distant preoccupation that suggests a storied past, and a fine wardrobe and sense of style. When I got singled out twice in two classes I thought he was being hard on me, but then I realised he was actually just treating me like an equal to my peers. It's only that I've grown accustomed to being condescended to. 10 times out of 10 I'll take the teacher, or the friend, or the stranger who makes me work for my keep over the one who thinks I can't tie my own shoelaces. A few weeks ago he introduced us to a number of K-pop fixtures, because, after all, this is “Enjoyably” Study Korean, so it's not all writing drills and call-and-response. This turned out to be a great excuse to show off Bubble Pop during class time. As if you need one.

Before we could get to this, though, we had to endure a fairly brief and painless quiz. I'm finding hangul to be elegant in its complexity, as every time I think I've more or less grasped the gist of how letters come together to form characters, I run across one in my blogsailing that stops me dead. I had this faulty idea that all characters were made up of two to three letters; I've actually seen some with, like, six. I'm horrified by the knowledge that Korean has spelling, and it seems to be every bit as bemusing as that of English. In Japanese, you can write a character incorrectly, you can use the wrong one, you can mishear a long vowel or a double consonant, but you can never actually misspell a word. I've sort of grown accustomed to the idea that words in foreign languages are just written the way they're written.

On the other hand, whenever the day comes that I first decide to sit down and read something in Korean of my own volition, even if I have to look up every third word, at least I'll just be able to type it into a dictionary and get the meaning instantly, rather than hunt through a radical table making tactical use of the clipboard. Maybe if I tried to read 1Q84 in Korean I'd be more than 15% of the way through after working at it for six months. I'll tell you one thing that Japanese has over Korean, though: If I see a Japanese word I don't know, I can scan over a character, or even part of a character, and work out an idea of what it might mean, maybe even look at the tsukuri and guess at one of the Chinese readings. I can't say for sure, but I imagine you could probably study Korean for several years without ever realising that the connection between hwisa (会社) and sahwi (社会) is more than coincidental. Realistically, my own Korean etymology is unlikely to ever reach that level. I am still quite satisfied with my gradual progress towards Korean semi-literacy however, and was even pleased to find that 가 (ka) has stopped saying フト to me. Unfortunately, the 0101 on the side of the Marui Building now says 이이 (i i).

For the quiz, we were given a list of 21 words to memorize, 10 appeared on the test, and we were tasked with translating them from Japanese into Korean. To study, I sat down a few times for a few minutes each and did a little bit of rote memorization. Quizzed myself when I started feeling confident, took another look at the ones I got wrong. It was great. It felt like good, honest work. My level of success enjoyed a direct relationship with my level of effort. See, the point where I'm at in Japanese, I'm starting to really dig into the meat of the language, and everything I learn is all abstract concepts, subtly different technical terms, and grammar points that have usage notes like “only to be used immediately after a refreshing rain on a fine summer's day when the speaker is wearing purple socks, barring any exceptions as detailed in Appendix Q.” For this Korean test, I memorized words like “dog” and “I.” Kasu is kashu. Toro is douro. Great, got it!

Korean, at this point, is still something I can sit back and relax with, the way a hockey player might relax with an exercise bike after a tough practise. It's still a toy, a parlour trick, not something I'm using to communicate with people, yet. I haven't experienced frustration at not being able to express myself adequately, or had my pride injured through not knowing something I should have learned by now. There was definitely a time, after I'd mastered the basics but before I stopped sucking at it, that I had a lot more hate than love for the Japanese language. I was Rocky, Japanese was Apollo Creed, and the first movie had just ended; I was lying beaten and bloody on the floor, and for a while there I seriously considered giving up on it completely. It was just too hard. The grammar was too alien, the kanji too numerous. Every time I reached a new plateau I saw that the peak was farther away than I'd thought. But I persevered, the sequel came, and this time I won. Japanese started working for me. But it was a long and lonely road to get there, and if I continue with Korean, eventually I'll arrive at the same crisis.

All of this raises the question of how far I plan to go with my Korean. It'll never be as good as my Japanese is now; I know at least that much. Japanese has almost a decade's headstart, I started learning when I was still physically almost a child, and this is the language of the country that I intend to spend my life in. It dominates my attention, and I can't see any other hobby ever displacing it (unless, to continue the above analogy, Korean turns out to be Ivan Drago). My interest in Korean is much less fundamental; it comes from a desire to speak with Koreans, maintain numerical parity with Europeans, and impress Japanese. In any case, I don't think I'll ever just stop learning now that I've started, but if I can get to the level where I can maintain a simple conversation – ask for directions, talk about mutual likes and dislikes, invite a girl to a hotel – I think I'll be satisfied.

Korean in Japanese

I've wanted to visit Korea for years. There's a story that goes with that, but let's just say it involves a Korean girl and really it's not too hard to work out the rest. I've never been too interested in learning the language – it wasn't offered at my Canadian university, and all my self-study energy goes towards Japanese – but I was kind of forced to change my attitude when I thought I might be going to Busan, where I would naturally take classes as part of the package. Jumping ahead a bit, when I first moved into this dorm I kind of noticed that, oh hey, everybody here speaks English, and they speak their native language, and they're learning Japanese, and some of them speak other second languages as well. And that made me feel kind of embarrassed with my wimpy two languages, even if they're both comparatively advanced.

But still, I thought, I'd like to add another trick to my bag. Speaking Japanese is a pretty rare and impressive skill in Canada; in Japan, less so. I'd really like a little something to bust out when I feel like impressing Japanese people. I should take Korean here! So that's what I'm doing, and I think it's going to be hilarious, because Busan is basically the Oosaka of Korea, so I'll be trying to learn the Busan dialect on my own time. In other words, I'll be a white guy, speaking Korean, in the Busan dialect, with a Japanese accent. With any luck I'll confuse the shit out of people.

My first class was this morning, and I thought it would be fascinating to learn Korean in Japanese. It would be eye-opening; it would re-frame my language faculties; it would not only give me new insight into the process of learning Japanese, but language-learning in general. So far this hasn't happened, but it was only the first class, so maybe I'll strike an epiphany later in the semester. Today we just talked about the syntactical similarities between Japanese and Korean, and how words are constructed in hangul, some of which I already knew by osmosis from deeply trolling the K-blogosphere. I was, thankfully, able to keep up with the explanation without problems, perhaps in part because I've deliberately chosen the least serious class available, 「楽しく学ぶ韓国朝鮮語」、which manages to imply that the other Korean classes are not enjoyable while simultaneously sounding very stupid.

Next I had History of Japanese Thought, with the same teacher as last semester, except now it's the other half of the course. The first half, in fact. Whatever, you don't really have to take them in order. Even without Philosophy and Hikikomori Girl to lean on, I kept up with the lecture and was moved to contemplation at all the right moments. My reading has even improved in the last few months, so although it will be some time before I'm able to casually read through printouts of of hundred-year-old documents, I was able to follow along much more easily than I once was. Getting better!

In both classes, I got a comment from the teacher and a couple of double-takes, but otherwise went unacknowledged. Not like yesterday, when a couple of girls caught sight of me and almost had a heart attack. I like it. I see the other koukan ryuugakusei moving about the campus in groups, while I cut a lone path, because I've got my own stuff to deal with, of which they have no part. I wondered if that made me an arrogant prick, and then I decided that I don't care. It makes me feel more strongly a part of the society in which I live. It makes me feel like I've arrived in a whole new way.

My third academic class of the semester was choukai, which, as far as I'm concerned, is kind of a joke. It's just sort of a lame concept for a class, and the fact that last semester I put by far the least effort into choukai but got an A in that and a B in everything else should tell you what a waste of time it is. I guess maybe it'll help me understand my real classes more effectively, though, which would be pretty damn exciting, I must admit. I can also justify it to myself by saying that the latest reports put choukai as the most critical part of the modern JLPT, which I'm hoping to take in the summer. Although the real reason is that I have to take at least four Japanese language classes and nothing else fit with my schedule.

Finally, Literature again. Same as before, contemporary short stories, taught in English, with class time focussing on discussion. I seem to remember this being an awfully work-intensive course, and having it does not help my degree in any way whatsoever. But it was fun, the teacher was interesting, and besides, I really wanna up my knowledge of Japanese literature, just cause it seems like that's the sort of thing I should have.

SNSD - "Oh!" Japanese vs Korean lyrics comparison

Ever since SNSD/So Nyeo Shi Dae/Shoujo Jidai/Girls' Generation started releasing songs in Japanese, I've been kind of wondering how they were translated. Did the writers try to keep it literal, or were they more concerned with retaining the general feeling? Did they adjust for audience expectations? So, just for fun, let's have a little comparison. I picked “Oh!” because its Japanese is the least atrocious.

First of all, check out this video:

(If the link breaks, just YouTube search “snsd oh korean japanese.” There's a few of them.)

It's a video of the two songs synced, with each version separately relegated to one speaker. Pretty cool, eh? Although a little distracting. If you read both Korean and Japanese, maybe listen to it while reading the following chart. Let me know how that goes for you if you decide to try. Input overload. The Korean lyrics and translation come from here, the Japanese lyrics come from this video, and the Japanese translation is my own.

전에 알던 내가 아냐 Brand New Sound I’m not the girl you used to know, Brand New Sound	少女の笑顔で Brand New Sound A young girl's smiling face, Brand New Sound
새로워진 나와 함께 One More Round Do Something with the new me for One More Round	世界が回って One More Round The world turns, One More Round
Dance dance dance 'til we run this town	Dance dance dance 'til we run this town
오빠 오빠 I’ll be I’ll be Down Down Down Down Oppa oppa I'll be I'll be Down Down Down Down	オッパオッパ I'll be I'll be down down down down Oppa oppa I'll be I'll be down down down down
오빠 나좀 봐 나를 좀 바라봐 Oppa, look at me; just look at me!	大人には割りとなれない I can't quite become like an adult
처음 이야 이런 내 말투 Ha! This is the first time I’m talking like this, Ha.	それがいいよね、マイブーム Ha! That's just fine with me, Ha.
머리도 하고 화장도 했는데 I did my hair and even my makeup too.	メイクして心弾む I did my makeup and enlivened my heart.
왜 너만 나를 모르니 Why is it that you, you’re the only who doesn’t know?!	罠を掛けてダーリン Catch me in your trap, darling.
두근 두근 가슴이 떨려와요 Thump, Thump; My heart is trembling.	次々ハードル有っても Even if there are hurdles coming up
자꾸 자꾸 상상만 하는 걸요 Again and again, I keep imagining things.	ちょくちょくサクセス有るのよ Now and then I'll have some success.
어떻게 하나 콧대 높던 내가 What should I do?	乙女だわ、胸の鐘が I'm an innocent girl, the bell in my chest
말하고 싶어 With my head held high I want to say to you…	マッハァルゴッポ malhago sipeo
Oh Oh Oh Oh 오빠를 사랑해 Oh! Oh! Oh! Oppa, I love you.	Oh Oh Oh Oh オッパルサランゲイ Oh Oh Oh Oh oppareul saranghae
ah ah ah ah 많이 많이해 Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, A lot!	ah ah ah ah マニマニエイ ah ah ah ah manhi manhihae
수줍으니 제발 웃지 마요 Please don’t laugh at me, I’m embarrassed.	すぐにどこか行っちゃうよ I'm going to go somewhere right away.
진심 이니 놀리지도 말아요 It’s my real feelings, so please don’t make fun of me.	縮まらない距離やだよ I can't deal with a distance that won't close
또 바보같은 말 뿐야 Again, I keep saying those silly words.	どうかどうか繋いで Somehow, somehow, make a connection
전에 알던 내가 아냐 Brand New Sound I’m not the girl you used to know, Brand New Sound	少女の笑顔で Brand New Sound A young girl's smiling face, Brand New Sound
새로워진 나와 함께 One More Round Do Something with the new me for One More Round	世界が回って One More Round The world turns, One More Round
Dance Dance Dance 'til we run this town	Dance Dance Dance 'til we run this town
오빠 오빠 I’ll be I’ll be Down Down Down Down Oppa oppa I'll be I'll be Down Down Down Down	オッパオッパ I'll be I'll be Down Down Down Down Oppa Oppa I'll be I'll be Down Down Down Down
오빠 잠깐만 잠깐만 들어봐 Oppa, hold on. Hold on and listen to me.	お邪魔かな、ショックな現場 Am I intruding, this is where I'm shocked
자꾸한 얘기는 말고 Stop saying the words you keep saying.	彼女いるの？ Oh my God! You have a girlfriend? Oh my God!
동생으로만 생각하지는 말아 Don’t think of me as a younger sister.	どうせ今は恋人以下よ At best, right now I'm less than a lover
일년뒤면 후회 할걸 In a year you’ll probably regret it.	いつもの事 to face I want to face the way things are
몰라 몰라 내 맘은 전혀 몰라 You don’t know, really don’t know my heart.	無駄無駄電話をかけても Even if I uselessly phone you
눈치없게 장난만 치는걸요 You have no sense and joke around too much.	打ち明けちゃダメ、散るわよ！ I can't speak honestly, I'll be scattered!
어떻게 하나 이 철없는 사람아 What should I do? You immature person,	乙女なら一度決めたら Once an innocent girl makes up her mind,
들어봐 정말 Just listen to me!	ずっと待つの！ She'll wait forever.
Oh Oh Oh Oh 오빠를 사랑해 Oh! Oh! Oh! Oppa, I love you.	Oh Oh Oh Oh オッパルサランゲイ Oh! Oh! Oh! oppareul saranghae
ah ah ah ah 많이 많이해 Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, A lot!	Ah ah ah ah マジマジで！ Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, A lot!
수줍으니 제발 웃지 마요 Please don’t laugh at me, I’m embarrassed.	すぐに好きって言っちゃいそう I think I can't help but confess right now
진심 이니 놀리지도 말아요 It’s my real feelings, please don’t make fun of me.	縮まらない恋やだよ I can't deal with a love that doesn't get closer.
또 그러면 난 울지도 몰라 If you do that again, I might cry.	ショックなハート打ち抜いて Pierce my shocked heart
전에 알던 내가 아냐 Brand New Sound I’m not the girl you used to know.	少女の寝顔を Brand New Sound A young girl's sleeping face, Brand New Sound
뭔가 다른 오늘만은 뜨거운 난 Something’s different today, warm hearts.	見つめてお願い One More Night Please look at me, One More Night
Down Down Mirage The Find Now Down Down, don’t push, I’ll get angry.	Down Down 意地悪魔法は Down Down, malicious magic
오빠 오빠 이대로는 NoNoNoNo Oppa, oppa this right here, no no no no!	もたもたいらない NoNoNoNo I don't want this slow stuff, no no no no!
Tell me boy boy love it it it it it it it ah!	Tell me boy boy love it it it it it it it ah!
Oh Oh Oh Oh 오빠를 사랑해 Oh! Oh! Oh! Oppa, I love you.	Oh Oh Oh Oh オッパルサランゲイ Oh Oh Oh Oh oppareul saranghae
ah ah ah ah 많이 많이해 Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, A lot!	ah ah ah ah マニマニエイ ah ah ah ah manhi manhihae
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh 오빠를 사랑해 Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oppa, I love you!	Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh オッパルサランゲイ Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! oppareul saranghae
ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah 많이 많이해 Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, a lot!	ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah マジマジで！ Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, a lot!
또 바보 같은 말뿐야 , oh~! Again I keep saying those silly words, oh~!	どうか、どうか繋いで , oh~! Somehow, somehow, make a connection, oh~!
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!	Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh 오빠를 사랑해 Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oppa, I love you!	Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh オッパルサランゲイ Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! oppareul saranghae
ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah 많이 많이해 Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, a lot.	ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah マジマジで！ Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, a lot.
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh 오빠를 사랑해 Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oppa, I love you!	Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh オッパルサランゲイ Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! oppareul saranghae
ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah 많이 많이 Oh Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, a lot, Oh!	ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah マジマジ Oh Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! A lot, a lot, Oh!

It pretty much speaks for itself, so I'm not going to offer much commentary, but the main thing you'll immediately notice is that not only has the general flavour of the song seem to have survived, but some lines are nearly identical or work at similar angles. That's no surprise, since a) the everything apart from the lyrics is identical between the two versions, b) it's the same group and thus they require a consistency in branding, and c) at least a quarter of the lyrics are completely meaningless in any language, so this exercise was geared less towards the bigger picture and more towards the exact manner in which the song was brought over. And of course we're examining it in a third language, which just brings it to a whole other level. Like I said at the beginning: just for fun. What's weird to me is that, just by putting the English lyrics side by side, the Korean version actually seems far more direct and less cutesy and innocent than the Japanese, which is the exact opposite of what I would expect.

Incidentally, why do recording companies think that pop songs must be in the native language of the target audience to be successful, and are they right? (Raise your hands everybody who's heard of Nelly Furtado's Spanish-language work.) Why did “The Boys” disappear overnight but “Gangnam Style” is the most-watched YouTube video ever? Are Japan and Korea going to keep exchanging soft culture, or is this just a passing thing, and if it persists, is that going to start affecting public perception of the opposing countries in question?

I don't have any answers, I just find it really interesting to see the same song wearing different clothes.

Translation notes

If I've messed something up, by all means let me know in the comments. I don't do this a lot. Please be kind.

大人には割りとなれない – this 「割となる」 business is something I've never encountered before and I couldn't find a satisfactory answer. Anybody care to explain it to me?
罠を掛けてダーリン – I feel like this is a dead-simple headscratcher here but I actually can't figure out who's being caught and who's doing the catching. Is she putting on her makeup and such as a trap to catch the guy, or to entice him to catch her?
いつもの事 to face – Wtf is this?
打ち明けちゃダメ、散るわよ！ - The first half is easy: she can't speak her feelings honestly (because the guy has a girlfriend.) But the 散る complicates it. Who are what is being scattered? I take it to indicate her frustration with the whole situation.
乙女なら一度決めたら/ずっと待つの - I believe “maiden” is the go-to translation on this one, implying all the chastity and feminine beauty that implies, but it's a bit too literary here, so I went with “innocent girl.” I wasn't sure how to translate ずっと、since it really means something like “the whole period of time,” meaning she'll wait for as long as it takes, until he breaks up with his current girlfriend or acknowledges SNSD as his one true love or whatever, but I figured that the colloquialism “forever” would get the job done. Incidentally, I really like this line for some reason.
すぐに好きって言っちゃいそう – More literally, “I'm somewhat embarrassed or regretful to say that it seems as though I will very soon tell you 'I like you.'” But that didn't fit on one line.