Vivid Memories #4
Originally posted December 5, 2009
I had taken a few Japanese courses in college to satisfy my language requirement, but I barely remember any of it today, and even in 2006, which was closer to my prime speaking ability, I wasn't all that great. (I'm lazy about practicing things in general, so my foreign language vocabulary is never any good.) So here I am, talking to this Japanese department store employee, saying goofy things like "This shirt, I live near it!" and apologizing for my crappy Japanese every other sentence, in an attempt to get her to understand what a wacky coincidence I thought it was. All of these efforts were met with puzzled looks. She probably had no clue what her shirt said.
Finally I gave up and said something very simple like "I like your shirt," which she responded to with a very polite, formal "thank you" in Japanese. It almost felt kinda patronizing, like she was taking extra care not to embarrass the dumb foreigner. I walked away wishing I had studied harder in Japanese.
No matter what country you're in or what language you're speaking, you can definitely still be really awkward.
It was 2006 and I was at a department store in Kobe, Japan. I walked past an employee folding some clothes and noticed that her shirt said "College Park, Maryland" on it. I thought it was pretty unreal to travel to the other side of the planet and see someone bearing a location that's only minutes away from where I live. Maybe not if I lived in a big, popular, tourist-y location, but College Park seems pretty obscure, so I had to ask her about it. Unfortunately, she didn't speak English, so I had to try and ask her in Japanese.
I had taken a few Japanese courses in college to satisfy my language requirement, but I barely remember any of it today, and even in 2006, which was closer to my prime speaking ability, I wasn't all that great. (I'm lazy about practicing things in general, so my foreign language vocabulary is never any good.) So here I am, talking to this Japanese department store employee, saying goofy things like "This shirt, I live near it!" and apologizing for my crappy Japanese every other sentence, in an attempt to get her to understand what a wacky coincidence I thought it was. All of these efforts were met with puzzled looks. She probably had no clue what her shirt said.
Finally I gave up and said something very simple like "I like your shirt," which she responded to with a very polite, formal "thank you" in Japanese. It almost felt kinda patronizing, like she was taking extra care not to embarrass the dumb foreigner. I walked away wishing I had studied harder in Japanese.
No matter what country you're in or what language you're speaking, you can definitely still be really awkward.
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