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  • fuckedgaijin ‹ General ‹ Gaijin Ghetto

Why are they all so Happy?

Groovin' in the Gaijin Gulag
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17 posts • Page 1 of 1

Why are they all so Happy?

Postby ewraught » Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:01 pm

Uhh, it seems like concepts like irony, misery, cynicism and sarcasm are lost on this culture. Given the history of Japanese art and theater, where the transience of life was celibrated I would think this would be manifest itsel into the twentieth-first century bitterness celebrated all over the world.
I am trying to import some darkness into my Engrish classes and with my J-friends, but they all seem to be optimists? Why? And if so why the sucide rate? Do they ever step back and say fuck it? I would think everyone here has at some point, how else does one become an FG?
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Postby Big Booger » Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:27 pm

You have fell into the realm of J-Fakeness.. nee ner nee ner nee ner... do not attempt to adjust your television dial.. you have entered the world of the Japanolight zone....

the three truisms of Japan:
(1) always smile, unless a turtle is biting your balls or nipples

(2) never brush your teeth, unless you are told to

(3) Always study and work hard, unless you are a loser.. the no one gives a shit about you anyway.

There are several revisions to these truisms but these are the original three.
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Postby JapanBound » Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:31 pm

I didn't know the Japanese had notoriously bad teeth..


Are we talking like limey BRIT bad???
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Postby Taro Toporific » Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:35 pm

JapanBound wrote:I didn't know the Japanese had notoriously bad teeth..
Are we talking like limey BRIT bad???


Yep, you'e gonna fit in just fine.

(Japanese have nearly twice the tooth enamal of Brits but they have been very careless about brushing until a couple a years ago when toothbrushing in the office after lunch became an OL fad. We have flamed about this dental issue many times on the FG Forum so read about it from the more-than-clueless gaijin in, I've had it with Japanese dentists!)
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Re: Why are they all so Happy?

Postby cstaylor » Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:43 pm

ewraught wrote:Uhh, it seems like concepts like irony, misery, cynicism and sarcasm are lost on this culture.
Nah, like BB said, you're riding the tatemae BS express. But then again, why not teach them something more useful, like simple tongue twisters:
Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers...

If they can say that without running it together, they're probably in the top 1% of ESL students. My 4yr old niece still says, "Mayonaise is ketchup" (My name is Yuuka). :lol:
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Postby mr. sparkle » Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:53 pm

JapanBound wrote:I didn't know the Japanese had notoriously bad teeth..

Are we talking like limey BRIT bad???


why do you think they cover their mouths when they giggle...8O

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hey - lay off the choco-dots!
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Postby Big Booger » Wed Mar 17, 2004 4:08 pm

Of course I was poking fun...

Dude, get real. If I were in a class and the Japanese teacher tried to bring cynicism, sarcasm, MISERY??? WTF???, or anything wacky, I'd be out the door and never come back!

are you some kind of downer? Are you depressed and want your students to be also?

LOL

If not, and you are serious, why not show them examples of this in movies? Wouldn't that be much more interesting? Find misery clips, sarcastic clips, and the like...
Then discuss it.. and compare it to Japan. that would make for indeed a more interesting class on these topics.
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Postby ewraught » Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:09 pm

Yeah I am bit of a downer, since nothing ever lives up to the hype. But more realistically, I find it disengenous when every day the response is "I'm Fine". to quote a twentieth century philosopher "Nobody's fine. hair is Fine!" Its seems like the palette of human experience and emotion stops at zero around here. Nothing lower, which of course is where artistic expression and poltical rebelion come from, being two things I find more compelling than Hello Kitty. In my more grandious moments I'd like to think English is a key to inpendant thought, not the university-salaryman treadmill. If I can impart that there is another way, well I think that's better than teaching grammar...
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Postby Alcazar » Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:34 pm

This guy is doing something natural for a Westerner-trying to get the Japanese to 'snap out of it'.

I don't blame him, it could be really irritating to have every J-person constantly acting all 'happy happy, joy joy' the whole time-because it is fake.

You just want them to act human for once. Good on you. :thumbs:

I don't know if it will work though.... :(
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Postby GomiGirl » Thu Mar 18, 2004 12:13 am

ewraught wrote:Yeah I am bit of a downer, since nothing ever lives up to the hype.


:violin:

so you get asked out to parties often? :roll:

Life is good mate.. get out there and enjoy yourself... :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Postby gomichild » Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:01 pm

Way back when I used to be a living tape recorder I banned all of my students from using the word "fine" - just give them a lesson with alternatives - they will say something else if they feel comfortable with other phrases.

Actually I used to put the fear in them about stock standard responses so much that the other students would move away from the one who came out with any of my "banned" phrases in a lesson. But after a few classes they all would get it and then the conversations would become a lot more interesting.

Give them the weapons and they will use them.
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Postby cstaylor » Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:03 pm

gomichild wrote:Give them the weapons and they will use them.
Yeah, exactly. Get them doing tongue twisters... it will help pronunciation. ;)
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Postby gomichild » Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:08 pm

[quote="cstaylor"]Yeah, exactly. Get them doing tongue twisters... it will help pronunciation. ]

And help amuse you during class...
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Postby AssKissinger » Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:11 pm

My favorite thing to do is to start off a lesson by pulling out a glock, putting it in my mouth, pulling the trigger and blowing my brains all over the fucking students. Everybody cheers and goes wild. They chant 'ASS-KING' 'ASS-KING' over and over again. And then I start dancing around with the back of my head blown off and start yelling, 'You fucking kindergarten motherfuckers! Quit smiling!' If you never blew your brains out before let me tell you, it hurts.
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Postby cstaylor » Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:11 pm

I have my new artist doing Peter Piper right now... he breaks down around "pickled"... he'll get there. ;)
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Postby GomiGirl » Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:14 pm

gomichild wrote:Actually I used to put the fear in them about stock standard responses .


Ironic really as automatic phrases are de rigeur for JSL students (ie most of us here).

I have spent a long time learning the right phrase for the right situation.

Culture and language are so closely linked..
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Postby n e k o b u s » Mon Mar 22, 2004 6:31 am

Alcazar wrote:This guy is doing something natural for a Westerner-trying to get the Japanese to 'snap out of it'.

I don't blame him, it could be really irritating to have every J-person constantly acting all 'happy happy, joy joy' the whole time-because it is fake.

You just want them to act human for once. Good on you. :thumbs:

I don't know if it will work though.... :(


If one thinks with a cynical mind, these smiles that greet you will always be perceived as fake, but there is certainly more to it, if one were to look at it on the bright side.

Please take a moment to consider this - you (like everybody else) who have had a hard day, would you like the next person you meet (be that person a stranger or friend), (A)smile, (B)show an expressionless face or (B)frown? Of course one might say that you can choose to be alone, but how effective is that?

I'm not Japanese nor do I know the Japanese people very well. My aim is to offer a clarification. The Cantonese Chinese have always lived by this saying that goes... "Happy or sad, each day will inevitably pass. So why live a day frowning?". I know that the Japanese and Chinese are different as night and day, but I believe somewhere in the many books written in Japanese, one will find something in the connections, remotely similar.

A smile may not be the best answer to most situations, but it most definately will not disappoint anyone too terribly. So, it is not to be discouraged because, at the end of each smile, no matter who made them, and as long as it isn't done for bad-intentions, I do believe there is something genuine for those who receive them.

I also think that Nat King Cole was on the money when he sang that beautiful song...
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