While I have been really enjoying Japan, not knowing the language or how to read Japanese has been tricky. This is a picture of a yogurt. Any guesses what it is? It is green, so we thought maybe "white grape" or "apple". Nope. It does not taste like any yogurt we've ever had before. Glenn tried reading the label and came up with "aloe". An aloe vera yogurt? No way. But later, at another grocery store I saw the leaves of an aloe vera plant on a yogurt container.... mystery solved. Glenn was absolutely correct... aloe vera yogurt, who knew?
We went to a new Costco here. We were excited because they had those yummy hot dogs, pizza, and smoothies like they do in the states. While Glenn was in line at the membership desk, I ordered our family some lunch. Problem. The guy at the register had no clue what I was ordering. I saw him look around in a panicked way, hoping to spy a worker who knew English. Then he looked back at me and said something I did not understand. Hmmmmm. I was far from Glenn (my favorite translator) so I came up with a new plan: I said the exact same thing as before, only with a Japanese accent:
Caesar salad = see sa sa red
pizza = pi sah
hot dog = ha dah guh
mango smoothie = ma un go smoo ie
Guess what??? It worked. He totally understood my order and smiled at me with relief. I was proud of myself for finding an alternative to waiting for Glenn's help. My only problem then was when he confirmed my order I kept saying "si" (Spanish "yes") instead of "hi" (Japanese "yes"). I have a strange desire to speak Spanish here. Uh, yeah, Spanish is not really going to work. I think I will stick with broken English.
6 comments:
That's funny. Glad there are somethings that feel like home. Now you won't always have to eat Aloe Vera yogurt, yuk! I guess I shouldn't say that till I've tried it. But I can't imagine. The waffle ice cream treat made me laugh, Greg dose that. It's good, like a cream puff.
Question-- Was is any good? Sounds disgusting, but that's because I'm imagining my lotion for sunburns. Yuck. I'm assuming it was good if you ate it. Sorry we didin't tell you about the site. I figured you'd know or it would fix with time. I'll tell you next time. Love the posts. I am so there for karoke. Love you! ~Kristine
Oh ya, the next time I have a sunburn, I'm slathering on some of that yogurt.
That was too funny-- speaking broken english with a Japanese accent and he understood!! As much as people sometimes complain about big box stores it must feel good to have something that's like 'home'--
Ha! That Costco story was hilarious! Sounds like you don't really need Glen's translating services afterall ;)
I love this story. It makes me laugh that you even thought to speak with a Japanese accent! I would have started freaking out and probably cried until the guy was so nervous he gave me free food.
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