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In afternoon class today, I made a great joke in Japanese. And everyone laughed, too. (Even the teacher, although it was Kushida-sensei, and she's a great one for laughter.)
It went like this...
We were discussing the issue of mukokuseki: statelessness. (That is to say, people who have no official nationality for one reason or another.) The problem of human trafficking (jinshin baibai) came to the fore. One of the guys laughed, because the baibai in human trafficking sounds an awful lot like bye-bye. (Also used in Japanese, although, admittedly with a rather childish [kodomo'poi] nuance.) He then apologized for interrupting.
And then I said:
"Well, after you were trafficked (baibai shita ato de), it probably would be 'bye-bye' (bye-bye ni naru kamoshirenai)."
And everyone cracked up.
Man, I feel such a sense of accomplishment!
---
In other news, I've decided my course list for next term (provided that I get into the classes I want). I'll be taking art history and academic speaking for my electives, as well as the modern history reading course. I don't really have much of an interest in modern history (I know, I know), but I figure it's something I should have a cursory knowledge of, and it'll increase my exposure to historical terminology. And of course there's also the optional calligraphy, classical calligraphy, and classical Japanese grammar courses - which I am also taking. In the last term, I plan to switch to the writing course to round out my "academic" Japanese skills. There's also a rumor going around that they might add classical Chinese (kanbun) in the last term as well.
Busy, busy.
I'm really looking forward to it, actually, and it's been fun to watch people's particular interests/academic requirements vie with attempts to avoid the teacher who is universally considered by students to be awful. But that's because I'm evil.
It went like this...
We were discussing the issue of mukokuseki: statelessness. (That is to say, people who have no official nationality for one reason or another.) The problem of human trafficking (jinshin baibai) came to the fore. One of the guys laughed, because the baibai in human trafficking sounds an awful lot like bye-bye. (Also used in Japanese, although, admittedly with a rather childish [kodomo'poi] nuance.) He then apologized for interrupting.
And then I said:
"Well, after you were trafficked (baibai shita ato de), it probably would be 'bye-bye' (bye-bye ni naru kamoshirenai)."
And everyone cracked up.
Man, I feel such a sense of accomplishment!
---
In other news, I've decided my course list for next term (provided that I get into the classes I want). I'll be taking art history and academic speaking for my electives, as well as the modern history reading course. I don't really have much of an interest in modern history (I know, I know), but I figure it's something I should have a cursory knowledge of, and it'll increase my exposure to historical terminology. And of course there's also the optional calligraphy, classical calligraphy, and classical Japanese grammar courses - which I am also taking. In the last term, I plan to switch to the writing course to round out my "academic" Japanese skills. There's also a rumor going around that they might add classical Chinese (kanbun) in the last term as well.
Busy, busy.
I'm really looking forward to it, actually, and it's been fun to watch people's particular interests/academic requirements vie with attempts to avoid the teacher who is universally considered by students to be awful. But that's because I'm evil.
