Text 27255, 89 rader
Skriven 2009-08-09 11:34:55 av Carol Shenkenberger (1254.cooks)
  Kommentar till text 27067 av NANCY BACKUS (1:261/1381)
Ärende: Re: hazards
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 >  >  CS> I dont recall ever seeing that particular gaijin lady shopping in to
 >  >  CS> again.  Her loss!  (Gaijin= nonjapanese).  Next time i got eels from
 >  > And she'll likely never achieve "honorary Asian" status, either!
 > 
 >  CS> Yeah, and Sasebo being so much a small community, lack of seeing her
 >  CS> ever again out at Tonoo, was telling.  She's one of the ones who

 > The experience probably just confirmed what she already believed about
 > not wanting to get too assimilated...  Of course things will be
 > different in different cultures, not always normal comfort zone, but
 > that's really the fun of learning new cultures... to expand the comfort
 > zone...  :)  Probably takes a certain kind of person to really enjoy the
 > stretching of different cultures...  like you and me...  :)

It was interesting to see how some adapt and some have blinders.  GA Ruth can
tell you the same sort of stories about her time in Germany and other places
that Steve's been to where he's seen it too.

Sadly, some are so mono-cultural that they never adapt, and it's because they
do not *want* to at all.  I'll admit there was one spot i didnt want to adapt
and didnt.  I never really learned to drive there.  I was afraid that if i
did, my 'left right' habits would be all messed up and get me in deep kimchee
driving stateside at some odd moment.  Once i got a car, I used it only a few
times for very short trips just to the commisary or exchange.

 >  CS> quality more than made up for it.
 >  CS> She was (is i assume) one of the ones with fairly good english so she
 >  CS> could tell you how to cook something that was odd to you.  She didnt
 >  CS> always know 'english' name for things but if it wasnt real busy, she'd
 >  CS> put 'number 1 son' on the line and take you to the stall that sold the
 >  CS> thing she meant and show it to you.  If busy, she'd write a note and
 >  CS> describe the stall and off you'd go to get it.
 > 
 > I can certainly understand that becoming a regular stop.  :)  Quality
 > and good service both...  :)

Yup!  Now that lady who never adapted?  She'd never have gone back after an
incident like that.  In fact, I heard tell of a wandering rumor of this lady
and the horrid vat lady.  I suspect it was the gaijin.  By the time i heard
of it, it was a hilarious tale told by those who were not mono-cultural,
laughing at her for being such an idiot about something new and missing out.

I jut realized, you also don't know about Elise.  She's a friend now living
in Singapore, lucky dog!  Elise is german married to a sailor who got a very
sudden shift in orders to Sasebo.  No time to practice english (newly married
and he speaks German).  We met up her first week in Sasebo when she had
almost no english at all.  Most of us will recognixe Danke as thanks.  She
didnt know 'thanks' yet.

Want keystone kops almost again?  I met her at the commisary, while she got
her first load.  One of her kids took spanish.  The other took latin.  I'd
taken 2 years of german many years back in HS.  We had a 3 way translation
going on where I'd remember a word in spanish or a latin one and we'd
translate to Elise via the kids while Charlotte gave the Japanese names for
stuff (or i did, depended on the item).  Over time we developed our own sort
of lingo as i recalled more German.  She got a german Japanese dictionary. 
(we never bothered with an English german one).

It was funny at least in part because out in town, everyone would look and
assume she spoke english but she didnt for a time (learned fast though) but
she'd whip through her german-japanese book and get by.

(BTW, above I'd taken Latin, German, and 2 years of Spanish in HS).

Back to our stall lady

 >  CS> I remember her once saying a word i didnt know at all, but the stall
 >  CS> was the Miso lady.  I just grinned and asked if it was a color of miso.
 >  CS> She blinked. Yes, that is how to say it.  It is old miso (she meant
 >  CS> aged) and dark and brown.  I'm pretty sure thats how she figured out

 >  CS> was 'Miso Lady' I just held up a pinky with a question mark on my face
 >  CS> and she held up pinky and 4th but crooked the 4th.  She waved her hand
 >  CS> over my purchase as she did this.
 >  CS> We knew what she meant and it was faster by far than trying to say it.
 >  CS> (She meant get 2 balls, but use 1.5 of them for that amount).
 > 
 > Communication across language barriers is so fascinating... :)  I've
 > done similar with an Cuban grandma at church who knows very little
 > English and speaks less, and my Spanish is likewise rather sparse...
 > Yet we can communicate more than one would think possible... :)

In this case, she knew the english, but the faster communication was used as
she knew i knew it.

          xxcarol
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