Hum, it's been a while, hasn't it? I haven't been crazy busy, but just busy enough to get a bit lazy in the evenings. The whole "two months off work" thing is fun when it happens, but it doesn't half hit you when you have to start working again.
While I've been not blogging, I've been noticing that a few people I know undersetimate my intelligence. Not that I'm a astrophysicist or anything, but my basic abilities seem surprising to them.
I took a friend to my favourite restaurant the other day, we went from my house, and she was genuinely baffled by the fact I knew my way there. Um, what? I know the way from my house to my favourite restaurant, and that surprises you? I even felt the need to explain why I knew the way (I'm a people pleaser, so sue me) and told her it was on my way to work. Even that seemed impressive to this lady. Seriously, how did she think I got home from work if she thought I didn't know the way? That could be problematic.
And then I went out with an old student. Obviously, when I was his teacher, I spoke to him in English, that was what I was being paid for, so a little surprise at the fact I do actually speak Japanese might have been understandable. But, seriously, he must have mentioned it about 30 times, each time with total shock. Um, I live in Japan, work in a bilingual workplace, and deal with my roommate's bonkers dog in Japanese (he only knows "sit", but I think he's just worked out that if I have food in my hand he should sit down if he wants to get it), learning Japanese kind of makes sense. More than many of my students who live in Japan, live with Japanese speakers and work in a Japanese environment, and yet spend a fortune on English classes, learning to speak a language they will only use in class. And I'm not so dumb I can't learn your language, you learned mine, why shouldn't I learn yours?
Grrr. For the record, I am of average intelligence, I can't do really smart stuff, like read texts in their original Latin, but I can tie my own shoelaces, so I don't really get why people are so shocked when I do normal stuff. Maybe one day, I will shock everyone by writing a whole sentence in Japanese.
Kudos to you. Intelligence is however often over-rated... just look what it did for George W (he took his country - and others - to war over what intelligence was given to him, as well as what intelligence of his own he had in the bank).
ReplyDeleteStill - people are always underestimating others intelligence... or common-sense... or just plain ability to think for ourselves. Then again, I suppose that's why we have an advertising industry...
Sorry to hear you're so busy.
I think the surprise over knowing your way to the resturant is because so many Japanese don't have a sense of direction. I'd get comments on the same thing cos I didn't need a map or a phone with GPS!
ReplyDeleteUm....you can't read Latin?
ReplyDelete**takes time to laugh before continuing typing**
I thi..
** had to stop again because laughing was too much**
;)
I think it's tied to tatemae where everyone tries to blow smoke up everyone else's ass constantly without thinking about how ridiculous it sounds.
That's my theory anyway :)
The rest of the world is not used to the idea that people who speak English would bother learning any other language. A stupid stereotype.
ReplyDelete