My favourite kind of travel narrative is one that follows a journey with an unusual kind of goal: for example, visiting every city in the world whose name starts with “Z” or retracing the footsteps of some famous traveller. So when i read the blurb for Joe Bennett’s new book Where Underpants Come From I [...]
“How old are you?” is usually considered a basic question, right? Ask a Korean and you might find out that it’s a complicated question, because the Korean system for counting age is different to the Western system. I found this out not long after I started teaching in Perth, and my students were asking each [...]
I admit that I usually get a good giggle out of photographs of so-called “Chinglish” or “Japlish” signs: those curiously-translated instructions that sound almost lyrical instead of comprehensible. But I usually get a dose of guilt along with the laugh. Who are we to laugh at an attempt from a Chinese or Japanese speaker [...]
Japanese culture is a curious beast. Last weekend I showed my husband the Bill Murray/Scarlett Johansson film Lost in Translation, and it reminded me that it’s not a bad portrayal of the Western impression of Japanese culture.
I don’t profess to be an expert on Japan by any means - it’s a complex place. I lived [...]
I’m still a little baffled by modern Japanese marriages. Back on my old blog I wrote a post about the National Chauvinistic Husbands Association in Japan. Yes, such an organisation truly exists, and double yes, there’s a need for one. And the story behind all that’s an interesting one.
Why Japanese Men Need A Chauvinistic Husbands [...]
Formal and informal ways to speak to people in other languages is a can of worms that I was reminded of last week as I watched one of my favourite Austrian TV shows - one of very few German language shows that are broadcast here in Australia - and I’m not ashamed to admit that [...]