JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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To be healthy, live in the big city
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Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
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Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
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From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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- English Instructor (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe)
- Berlitz Japan, Inc. (ベルリッツ・ジャパン株式会社), Kansai
- Salary: ¥125,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month
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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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zaichik
The first year I went to Fuji Rock, I was on crutches because I'd broken my foot a couple of days before. There was no way I was going to miss seeing Catatonia though!
My only complaint about Naeba is the last train back to Niigata leaves before the headliners have finished. Fortunately, when I went for the day a couple of years after the time I was on crutches, it was only Oasis headlining and we were able to see the Manic Street Preachers (which was the main reason for going).
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zaichik
I like it
Posted in: Espresso with wings
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zaichik
Cleo has expressed perfectly my own feelings on translation. I hated my occasional forays into teaching at eikaiwa (primarily covering for friends while they were on holiday) and would walk barefoot over glass to avoid teaching English again.
I used to work as an in-house translator for a research institute, while also working freelance (sometimes on the institute's time, I must admit, because after a couple of years, you can translate the rehashed papers of some of the staff in your sleep). It was an excellent combination, because the in-house work meant I got out of the house (and got a work visa) and met people, while the freelance work kept my brain active and introduced me to new fields.
After moving to NZ, getting an in-house translation job wasn't an option, and I'm now working for an international assistance company. It's a totally different challenge from translation work and I'm enjoying it a lot, but I still do the freelance work (working for an agency that's part of the Tokyu group, so I get some quite high-profile jobs) because I really enjoy the translation. The creativity involved in crafting a well-turned sentence from something not v.elegantly expressed in the original should not be underestimated.
I'd be interested to hear what the oddest document that other translators here have translated. My most bizarre job to date was translating a sperm donation agreement for a lesbian couple.
Posted in: No substitute for human touch in translating
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zaichik
Most of the NZ supermarkets do this - it's a pretty good incentive.
Posted in: Ito-Yokado to offer gasoline coupons
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zaichik
I remember when Niigata's Daiei closed a couple of years ago - that was quite a shock and meant that there were no decent supermarkets in the Bandai area of town. The closure of these branches of Aeon could prove similarly inconvenient for people who perhaps don't have their own transport and will have to travel further afield on public transport (if it exists in their area).
Posted in: Aeon to close 40 supermarkets
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zaichik
I guess my departure from Japan has caused Yebisu sales to drop :-)
I'm surprised that Suntory has captured third place, though - I really don't think much of their beer....
Posted in: Suntory rises to 3rd in beer product market
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zaichik
I shall have to have a look at this - I need to kickstart my Russian studies again. I know they say that if you want to learn a language, date a native speaker, but my spoken Russian hasn't improved a vast amount in 4 years of living with Mr Zaichik (on the other hand, his English has improved tremendously)!
Posted in: You're never too old to learn a new language
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zaichik
Nicely put, zurcronium.
Posted in: Globe
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zaichik
Don't forget that the price doesn't include the cost of a reception. It's a good deal if you're only looking for the ceremony, though. But there's only one couple who would get this deal - everyone else would have to pay the full whack (which is twice this special price).
Posted in: Foreign couples invited to wed at Kishiwada Castle
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zaichik
I think she suffers from the same problem as a lot of Welsh people who leave Wales - their accent tends to disappear and only reappear at times of stress, happiness, drunkenness or talking to other Welsh people. I sound quite upper crust most of the time when calm and sober, apart from slightly lengthened vowels in some words.
But that Welsh-American hybrid accent is quite amusing.
BTW, did anyone see Dawn French's take-off of CZJ at the comedy gala to raise money for the Tsunami victims a few years ago? Absolutely hilarious!
Posted in: Catherine Zeta-Jones touts Lux shampoo
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zaichik
I'm with tkoind2. People enjoy complaining - it keeps one sane. I used to complain about things that annoyed me in Japan. Now I live in NZ, I complain about things that annoy me here (lack of good customer service, lack of halfway decent public transport, cost of single malt whisky, etc.) that contrast unfavourably with my experiences in Japan. There's much I miss about Japan, but I wouldn't want to give up the things I enjoy about living in NZ (good career prospects, a house of my own, permanent residence and the right to vote). Similarly, when I lived in Japan and whinged about things that annoyed me there, I didn't want to go back to the UK and give up the things I enjoyed about Japan.
Posted in: Stereotypes ’R’ Us
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zaichik
I think this line is a good thing. You guys don't know how lucky you are to live in a country with good public transport.
Public transport provision in Auckland is appalling. Wish I had the option of getting a train or subway to work. When I lived in Niigata, I used to knit or study Russian on the bus, and arrived at work in a far better frame of mind than I do now that I have to watch out for idiots on the Harbour Bridge every morning.
Posted in: New subway line to open in Tokyo on June 14
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zaichik
More info here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2054057/Homeless-woman-comes-out-of-closet.html
Posted in: Homeless woman arrested after living undetected in man's closet for a year
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zaichik
Hmmm...good luck with that one...
Posted in: Japan to face Classic All Blacks in tuneup for Pacific Nations Cup
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zaichik
Natsukashii! It's just like the old days of JT... :-)
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zaichik
Actually, I've been in this situation, about 8/9 years ago. My ex-husband and I were walking along the main street in Joetsu, on our way home from the pub, and we saw a guy on the other side of the street, lying half on the pavement and half off the road. We didn't want to touch the guy, in case he woke up and got violent, so we called the police. They wanted to take my ex's name and contact details, but my ex refused and told them just to get over there and sort it out. We then departed swiftly, in order to avoid spending a tedious hour or two talking to the J-satsu.
Posted in: Man lying on Saitama street killed in hit-and-run
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zaichik
And the ones that do are probably not the target market for this film. I'd be very happy if this film made a difference, raising awareness and helping to increase pressure on the junta. Unfortunately, the junta has been impervious to pressure and boycotts so far, so I'm not holding my breath....
Posted in: Rambo takes aim at Myanmar junta
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zaichik
Bit of a soft interview, this.
Said for all the world as though he wasn't part of that conspiracy of silence. I don't imagine TEPCO suddenly started covering things up in 2006 after his departure.
He'd have been comparatively high up in the hierarchy of TEPCO when Niigata's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was built, and therefore complicit in the failure to make it adequately earthquake-proof. If I'm not mistaken, it's still closed following last year's earthquake.
Posted in: Dealing with nuclear power issues
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zaichik
I think that's a v.good point, Ness. The successful foreigner-foreigner relationships I've seen have been those where the couple then heads off to another country to settle and develop a career there.
And your advice to Kitsune is spot-on. You can meet nice men at bars (two friends of mine got together after he (English) met her (Russian) in a bar where she was waitressing to make ends meet while she was a student at Niigata University - they're now married & living in the UK), but you increase your chances of finding a meaningful relationship if you meet men with similar interests through clubs and circles.
Mr Zaichik and I got together while setting up a conference in Seoul. We were sent as the advance party from our institute in Niigata and had barely spoken to each other before that, because he wasn't v.talkative at the office. He turned out to be an absolute hoot away from the office, as well as being kind, considerate and v.tolerant of my foibles.
The moral of that particular story being that office romances can work, too.
Posted in: Foreign women in Japan sometimes remark how hard it is to get a date with foreign men. What are your views on this?
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zaichik
Maybe you might need the expensive rice cooker for bog-standard rice, but Uonuma Koshihikari tastes good even in an ordinary rice cooker. Save your money for the good rice, rather than the pricey cooker.
Posted in: Sticky situation