(Begin
Sophia impersonation)
Picture it.
Osaka,
Japan, 2001.
(End
Sophia impersonation)
I am staying with a Japanese family. I will not name them, to save their face.
The man of the house speaks pretty good english, and writes it better. The lady does not. I come down to eat
breakfast, half-conscious, and after
commencing to drag and drop things with
my chopsticks, he asks:
'
Where did you get those
pajamas?'
'I
like them'.
I tell him they were a
gift from my
mother.
...................................
(
I am in
shock. He repeats more slowly)
I run upstairs and grab my handy
Random House Japanese->English English->Japanese
dictionary. I look up "easy".
The dictionary gives 'easy' as 'yasashii' or
'raku'. I point to it. He says 'yasashii'.
Then I look up 'yasashii'. The dictionary
gives yasashii as 'kind', 'gentle', 'gracefull',
and 'easy'.
I explain the double meaning of 'easy' in english,
especially when describing women (sei teki ni hooshoo).
The moral: Don't get pissed at insulting forigners.
they have no idea what they are saying :-)