| Sarah: | Do you wanna go out to dinner on Monday? |
| Sophia: | Mmmmm....I dunno.... |
| Sarah: | Well, Monday or Tuesday whichever is free. |
| Sophia: | OH WAIT, NO. I CAN'T ON MONDAY, Game of Thrones has their season finale! |
| Sarah: | So tape it!!! |
| Sophia: | What is this... 1994...? |
ramblings of a twentysomething in Sapporo, Japan. I like UFO catchers, crocheting, photos and カピバラさん。
Ask me anything
June 1, 2012
May 31, 2012
The iron fist ~ Things that were said today
| Sophia: | Today, I am the dictator. Do you know that word? |
| Students: | No...dictation...? |
| Sophia: | Okay, it's jisho time then! (dictionary time) ::writes on the board:: "this is a dictatorship." |
| Students with dictionaries: | ::giggling:: oh... |
| Sophia: | You have no more "freedom." Your 自由 is gone now. My word is law. |
| Students: | Kind of like Hitler... |
| Sophia: | I'm nicer than Hitler. |
May 30, 2012
You’ve got to be a team player.
Whenever people apply for jobs, this word “team player” is thrown around A-FRIGGIN-LOT. People use it all the time in their cover letters. Employers wanna know you’ll go out of your way for them, it’s true. Someone who is a team player (1) works well with others, (2) willing to compromise, (3) is committed to the growth and improvement of your work place, and (4) shows loyalty. I like loyalty like everyone else, but I’ve started to realize after stepping into the “real world” that not everyone is a team player.
A lot of people only look out for themselves.That kind of selfishness disgusts me.
The other day one of my coworkers asked me if I could read over university exam questions that were recently released. Since they were released so recently, the uni hasn’t released the answers to the questions so she asked me if I could create the answers for them. I didn’t have any problem with it, so I simply said, “sure.” I wanted her to know that “I got your back.” I wanted her to know that in any situation, I would gladly help her. I don’t think it’s because of a “you scratch my back, I scratch your back” (wow, I’ve talked about a lot of backs this post) but it’s more of it’s the right thing to do. If someone is in trouble, you should help them.
It’s the golden rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. If you’re a steaming douchebag, of course no one is going to help your crazy ass.
May 30, 2012
I may be betraying my own people, but…
…I’ll tell you guys anyway.
My family is from the southern part of China from a region (province…?) named Guangdong. In the south of China, people speak Cantonese while in the north, people speak Mandarin. It’s always annoying as hell for northerners because people from the south can always learn Mandarin and go back and forth in either dialect, but I don’t know many Mandarin speakers who also speak Cantonese.
I like Cantonese because people who speak it are always making jokes. I also dislike Cantonese since they always tell jokes, it’s hard for me to pick up a lot of the language due to the double or triple meanings one word may have. For example, did you know soy sauce chicken is slang for a black person? I didn’t know either until ten years ago.
I admire the quickness and wit of the language. I was telling Sarah how a “white person” in Cantonese is literally a “white ghost.” That’s what you whiteys look like to us: dead people.
Whenever I walk around Sapporo and I hear Cantonese tourists, I smile and murmur, “My people…”
May 29, 2012
Mad Women
I watched Mad Men yesterday and it was amazing! I’m so happy that Peggy left SDCP after being taken for granted and being Don’s figurative punching bag. She put up with enough for your shit, Don Draper! The ’60s were awful for women. I hope Peggy will go on and be freaking awesome in the ’60s. What a firecracker…I think I would be super pissed to be living in the ’60s and having to be a made-up doll, being told the only thing I’m capable of is birthing children, and baking cakes.
I loved the little smile Peggy had on her face when she goes towards the elevator and the Kinks’ song starts playing. Go on with your bad self, girl!
I loved that she just left. She gathered her briefcase, coat, coffee mug and hat and then PEACED THE FUCK OUT. No goodbyes. Ugh. What a strong woman!
May 28, 2012
The time I learned how to say “white people” in Japanese
I have Japanese lessons every Saturday. It’s nice. I like my teacher. She’s a firecracker named Masami who can drink any of you under the table. I’m always telling her weird stories. I think it took me awhile to lift my politeness barrier. You know how you can’t be weird/random/strange with people you’ve just met? That’s what I call the politeness barrier. It took me a year and a half to lift it with Masami. It’s much harder to be weird in another language. Trust me.
One day, I was telling her how the bank teller thought I was a high school student. He thought I was 16 years old, a good 8 years younger than I am. I told Masami how I thought and how the rest of the internet thinks that asians age really well and on the other hand, white people, you guys age horribly.
Here’s exhibit A, the formerly hot Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden in his younger days:
…and now:
I kind of see his younger self under the folds of time. You hakujin (that’s how you say white people in Japanese)…what happens?! I don’t understand. Maybe it’s the food. My grandma believes that bird’s nest soup has nutrients that keep you young. For those who don’t know, bird’s nest soup is really expensive due to how hard it is to get it…and it’s basically bird’s saliva in a soup bowl. Yeah…the things people do for beauty and health! I’ve eaten it a handful of times without being told what it was… -.-
Anyway, have you guys seen the first hipster aka Joseph Stalin? This guy…wow. Shot in 1902, he can safely be declared the first hipster. Look at that shiny hair and the scarf! I feel like he’ll be reading poetry and then crying about his emotions.
I give you Exhibit B!
How did that become this?
My theory has something to do with vodka, long winters, and the mass slaughter of millions of people.
May 27, 2012
Are you ready for another truth bomb? Good. Have a seat.
It drives me bonkers when people use money as an excuse to not come and visit me in Sapporo. Now, I’m not saying that I’m irritated that people would rather pay their electricity bills, lessen their credit card debit, or save money than come to Japan. I’m irritated that my sister would spend money on a trip to Vegas and weddings rather than come visit her only sister.
I don’t understand. I was talking about this with my cousin who I call C-dawg. I told her how I thought my sis would be interested in coming to Japan because (1) She’s a history teacher. Japan has thousands of years of history. I am here. Put those two ideas together and SHAZAM, problem solved (2) She makes more money than me! Surely this abundance in dough can be halved to buy a plane ticket to Asia (3) There’s almost no language barrier. I’m not saying I’m extremely fluent in Japanese, but I’m average. I can order food, read those signs, et cetera.
C-dawg had spoken to my sister about this and my sister’s reason why she hasn’t come to visit me is that Japan is expensive.
I don’t think Japan is expensive at all. Fruit and veg is a bit expensive, but it’s an island nation. It’s not like they have the subtropics of Hawaii, pushing out pineapples all the time. If you adapt your taste buds to Japanese tastes, it’s really easy to not spend money.
Here’s the groceries I bought a couple of hours ago:
Garlic, mini tomatoes, grapes, plain yogurt, chicken, bananas and a small head of lettuce. I’m planning on making chicken over rice which is a popular street food in NYC. I got the recipe form here: Serious Eats. This is my go-to street food.
Anyway, I digress. All of this equaled to 1,040 yen which if the yen and dollar were equal, it’d be $10. Japan is not expensive! It’s only expensive if you buy conbini food all the time, karaoke into the wee hours of the morning, and drink all the alcohol under the Rising Sun.
Stop making excuses and come visit me already!
May 27, 2012
Late night karaoke. Phylicia gets WILD when she sings. She kicks off her shoes, gets on the furniture and serenaded me. She’s actually a very expressive and good singer. Those are her marijuana socks, hahaha. I’m an awful singer. I can’t go with such a good singer anymore…
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actionsampler movie.
home processed
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and all wars were set aside for the moment.
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Me: I went to an all-boys' high school.Class: Eeeehhhhh?!Student: (speaks Japanese)Teacher: He says that if he goes to one he's worried that he might turn homosexual.... ...
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Siri understands Gaga
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“Dj Roomba, tearin’ it up!”
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