i really should stop lying to friendly people.

Sure, I've been in Japan for a while now (almost *gulp* three years) but my Japanese still isn't completely fluent. I can get by, and have fairly standard conversations with most people about weather and weekends, and after a couple years of watching English being taught in Japanese, I can tell you what passive affirmative sentences are and what past participles are in Japanese as well.

For all the stuff that I don't know though, I've developed a few Japanese conversational survival techniques that probably don't help my Japanese improve in the long run. As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty much able to deal with a conversation with a 4-year-old using only a few words and phrases. Unfortunately, it is much harder to fake a conversation with anyone older than a preschooler. My original tactic was to say "yes" to anything in agreement to what people said, until eventually, someone would ask me a question that I was supposed to say "no" to. Saying yes to this response was usually met by the other person giving me a strange look and asking "really?", which was then my cue to just laugh nervously and say "no", shrugging it off as a joke.

While my original tactic has evolved a bit, with the aid of a few new phrases under my belt,  I'm still finding situations where I don't understand what's being said to me. I could ask for the other person to repeat what they said, or say "I don't understand", but saying it too much leads to strains on the conversation and sometimes other people just giving up on making conversations. Which is why, as I realised today, I revert to using my conversational survival techniques. Well, that's what I call them anyway. I think some people prefer to use the term "lying".

One teacher came up to me today and struck up a conversation about books and Australia.

Teacher: "So, I noticed the students are somethingsomethingilly reading their books today.
Me: (nervous laughter) Yeah, they do that, don't they?
(Technique #5: Nervous laughter makes any wrong answers sound like they were meant to be a joke)

T: So what are students in Australia like? Do they somethingsomethingilly read their books too?
Me: Well, yeah, I wonder.
(#12: Ambiguous statements about own opinion)
I think so, but they're a bit different to Japanese students.
(#2: Always mention the differences in culture when asked to talk about something)

T: Oh really, so how do they study and read books?
Me: Um, good question. Well...
T: Oh, do they blahblahblah?
Me: (laughing) Yeah, they do.
T: What!? Seriously? Do they somethingsomething or blahblahblah?
Me: Yes. blahblahblah.
(#8: Repeat the last thing that's mentioned when given a choice between two or more things)
T: So you're telling me you can see classes of students just blahblahblahing?
Me: (more nervous laughter) um... yes. Yes they do.

Fortunately for me, the conversation ended soon after that, and I was relieved that made it through a conversation talking about something I don't even know, quietly proud that my advanced survival techniques got me through another conversation.

That was, until the same teacher gave me a lift to a bar the next day.

Teacher: Okay, let's be honest. You sometimes have no idea what you're talking about do you?
Me: ...No. No I don't.

confessions of a karaokeholic

"Man, I haven't been to karaoke for ages!"

Thinking this to myself as I sit at my desk, daydreaming, I was really feeling the urge to do karaoke. I never really went to karaoke back home in Australia, and wouldn't be caught dead singing on front of a group of people back home, especially ones that I didn't know. I never really hated singing at school, but I was too nervous to sing in front of other people I would just mouth the words or sing under my breath when we had to sing the school songs. For me, it's kinda like talking to other people when you're in a public bathroom. When other people try to strike up conversations in the bathroom, no matter how friendly they're trying to be, I can't help but answer in short, curt responses. I just feel it's inherently wrong and something no one in their right mind should do.

Karaoke has kinda changed all that now I guess (the singing in public thing, not the bathroom conversation thing. Still working on that). Turns out is a good skill to have, especially when you find yourself doing English songs with your classes and singing The Beetle's "Hello Goodbye" about 15 times a week.

I don't know what makes singing songs with your friends so fun though. I guess as the only pastime possible in a city that doesn't house any clubs or fancy bars, I now just associate going out and having a good time with friends with singing songs stuck in my head in a dimly lit room. So has it really been that long since I've gone out with friends and then, If I'm feeling so melodically frustrated that I'm dying to get my kumbayayas out? I glance at my calendar and backtrack to work out the last time I went.

Three weeks. Less than a month since my last visit and I'm this desperate to go to karaoke. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm totally screwed when I go back home.