Library Card and Japanese McDonald's!
Guess what I got today? My very own Hirakata City library card! I'm not exactly sure how I got it, though. The other day when I passed by the library I asked the receptionist at the front desk what I needed to get a library card, and she said all I needed was an address. Vague, but I didn't want to pry deeper into the requirements because I was afraid she would remember something I didn't have. So today at campus I was elated to find my host family information, including address, in my campus mailbox! After my school business was taken care of, I skipped down to the library and proudly presented my address to the lady at the reception counter (a different lady from before). Then she asked me a question about living somewhere, and I said that now I live at the seminar house (the dorms), but that starting this weekend I will live at my host family's address. We went round and round many times about "living," but in the end I think I got my point across. The lady handed me a form to fill out, but then said something about identification (shoume). Then she said something about a card from the university, which I don't have. So I asked her if a passport was also okay, and she said yes, and then I told her I didn't have my passport with me.... It was kind of awkward. But I assured her that I could go get it and return, but then she pulled out a blank library card and said something to the ends of, "you can borrow a book today." So I thought she was giving me a temporary card. But then she told me to fill out that form she had handed me before, with my name and my host family's address and telephone number. So I filled it out, and she typed my information into the computer, I think. But then she started looking at the sheet I gave her with my host family's information, and again she started talking about identification. I asked her questions to clarify, like if I needed my host family's identification or if my host father had to sign the form, but in the end she just gave me the card. I don't know if it was my smooth talking (lol) or the fact that she just wanted to get rid of me, but I walked away with my very own library card.
Oh, and another funny misunderstanding was the way the card works. Now I understood the fact that I can rent twelve books at a time for two-week intervals, and I understood that I can use the card at all of the libraries in the surrounding area. But when she was explaining the procedure for checking out books I got confused. She told me to bring the book I want together with my library card, and then to show her the card. And I swear somewhere in that sentence I heard her say "turn in the card." So I thought I actually had to give the library my card while I had a book checked out, like a security deposit. Heck, I don't know how Japanese library cards work. So I asked if I won't have the card after I borrow a book, and I thought she said something like I won't need one, but that didn't really answer my question. So we went round and round again, getting farther and farther away from where we started. I must have used "karirutoki" (when I am borrowing...) about ten times. Eventually she ended up giving me directions for where to turn in my books, and that's when I knew for sure that we were on entirely different pages. So I just asked her, "when I turn in a book, will the library protect my card?" That's when she did a charade of checking out a book. She took my card from me and pretended to scan it, then she gave it back to me. That cleared things up A LOT. So she was very patient and helpful; she definitely earned her paycheck that day.
With library card in hand, I hit the little children's picture book section (kodomo no ehon). I didn't really know what to look for- just something easy- so I went on the computer and searched for a Japanese children's book I read at the USF library (the only Japanese children's book at the library) called "The Park Bench." I found the author's name and began my search, but along the way I saw a book titled "The Red Bicycle." The illustrations were very interesting so I opened it up and started reading. There was a lot of vocabulary I didn't know, but I could understand the gist of what was going on. So I sat down and read about half of it. It was a sweet story written from the point of view of the red bicycle. It is bought for a little girl named Louise, because she was supposedly red when she was born. When Louise grew bigger her father made the bike bigger (that part made me laugh because it was at that point that I realized the bike was telling the story, not Louise). But when Louise grew older, she and her father decided to sell the bike at market. But the father set an expensive price for the bike, so no one wanted to buy it. And the bike made squeaking noises as people rode it so no one would want to buy it; then it could return to Louise and become her little sister. But at the end of the day the father marked down the price and an old man bought it. He brought it back to his home and put it in the garage next to his car, and that is as far as I got.
So anyway, after reading the picture book I went upstairs to check out the manga section. Yes, there is a manga section in the library. I looked for Doraemon, a popular manga about a robot cat that they've been making for decades, but I couldn't find it. I wanted to check out that manga because my Japanese teacher brought in a copy once and it was pretty easy to read. So I asked the librarian for help, and he pointed out an empty section and told me that all of the copies had already been borrowed. I asked him if it was very popular, and he said yes. I didn't want to walk away empty-handed, so I asked him if he had any other easy manga to read: manga with grade-school level kanji, or furigana (the kanji pronunciations). He went on a frenzy checking the shelves for the right manga, almost to the point of shoving other people out of the way. He showed me one or two manga's, both of which were too hard, but the third time was a charm. He opened a page, and I could read everything (including the kanji), so I said that was fine. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but I think there's a bear and a squirrel that talk to each other. Probably very charming.
So that was my library excitment. I was so giddy to have my card and my very own books checked out; I was walking on air as I returned to the dorms. The other big excitement of the day was visiting the Japanese McDonald's on campus.
It was kind of like a McDonald's express, where there's no real front counter- just a window with a cashier and the kitchen behind a wall. I didn't really know what to do: all I knew is I wanted to try the terriyaki burger with a "potato set," which I assumed meant a combo. I asked the person behind the counter where I paid, and she happened to be the cashier, so that was the simplest answer I received that day. She gave me a medium drink (which is really about our small size), so I didn't put any ice in it. The straw covers here are really cool. They're clear plastic, and if you pull up on the cover about an inch from the end the end of the cover will pop off very clean. Not like in America, where you have to pound the straw on the table to get it out of the cover. Oh yeah, and the cashier gave me a little placard with a number written on it. So I assumed I had to sit down and wait for my food. But then I realized that everyone else was standing around the cashier's window, and I figured out that by the cashier's window was another window where they bring you your food when your number's called. I know it's simple, but I had no idea what I was doing when I first got there so when I figured out what was going on I felt like a genius! So the terriyaki burger was kind of disappointing. It literally tasted like a Jimmy Dean sausage biscuit with mayonnaise. But at least I had the experience. Oh, and I like the McDonald's bag because it had an Asian Ronald McDonald.
So those were today's adventures. I guess it just goes to show that when there's a language barrier, the simplest things in life (checking out a book, ordering fast food) seem mind-boggling. But being forced to confront such a barrier is what really helps a person learn a language; I hope all of these round and round conversations will make me a better listener and speaker of Japanese.
Oh, and another funny misunderstanding was the way the card works. Now I understood the fact that I can rent twelve books at a time for two-week intervals, and I understood that I can use the card at all of the libraries in the surrounding area. But when she was explaining the procedure for checking out books I got confused. She told me to bring the book I want together with my library card, and then to show her the card. And I swear somewhere in that sentence I heard her say "turn in the card." So I thought I actually had to give the library my card while I had a book checked out, like a security deposit. Heck, I don't know how Japanese library cards work. So I asked if I won't have the card after I borrow a book, and I thought she said something like I won't need one, but that didn't really answer my question. So we went round and round again, getting farther and farther away from where we started. I must have used "karirutoki" (when I am borrowing...) about ten times. Eventually she ended up giving me directions for where to turn in my books, and that's when I knew for sure that we were on entirely different pages. So I just asked her, "when I turn in a book, will the library protect my card?" That's when she did a charade of checking out a book. She took my card from me and pretended to scan it, then she gave it back to me. That cleared things up A LOT. So she was very patient and helpful; she definitely earned her paycheck that day.
With library card in hand, I hit the little children's picture book section (kodomo no ehon). I didn't really know what to look for- just something easy- so I went on the computer and searched for a Japanese children's book I read at the USF library (the only Japanese children's book at the library) called "The Park Bench." I found the author's name and began my search, but along the way I saw a book titled "The Red Bicycle." The illustrations were very interesting so I opened it up and started reading. There was a lot of vocabulary I didn't know, but I could understand the gist of what was going on. So I sat down and read about half of it. It was a sweet story written from the point of view of the red bicycle. It is bought for a little girl named Louise, because she was supposedly red when she was born. When Louise grew bigger her father made the bike bigger (that part made me laugh because it was at that point that I realized the bike was telling the story, not Louise). But when Louise grew older, she and her father decided to sell the bike at market. But the father set an expensive price for the bike, so no one wanted to buy it. And the bike made squeaking noises as people rode it so no one would want to buy it; then it could return to Louise and become her little sister. But at the end of the day the father marked down the price and an old man bought it. He brought it back to his home and put it in the garage next to his car, and that is as far as I got.
So anyway, after reading the picture book I went upstairs to check out the manga section. Yes, there is a manga section in the library. I looked for Doraemon, a popular manga about a robot cat that they've been making for decades, but I couldn't find it. I wanted to check out that manga because my Japanese teacher brought in a copy once and it was pretty easy to read. So I asked the librarian for help, and he pointed out an empty section and told me that all of the copies had already been borrowed. I asked him if it was very popular, and he said yes. I didn't want to walk away empty-handed, so I asked him if he had any other easy manga to read: manga with grade-school level kanji, or furigana (the kanji pronunciations). He went on a frenzy checking the shelves for the right manga, almost to the point of shoving other people out of the way. He showed me one or two manga's, both of which were too hard, but the third time was a charm. He opened a page, and I could read everything (including the kanji), so I said that was fine. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but I think there's a bear and a squirrel that talk to each other. Probably very charming.
So that was my library excitment. I was so giddy to have my card and my very own books checked out; I was walking on air as I returned to the dorms. The other big excitement of the day was visiting the Japanese McDonald's on campus.
It was kind of like a McDonald's express, where there's no real front counter- just a window with a cashier and the kitchen behind a wall. I didn't really know what to do: all I knew is I wanted to try the terriyaki burger with a "potato set," which I assumed meant a combo. I asked the person behind the counter where I paid, and she happened to be the cashier, so that was the simplest answer I received that day. She gave me a medium drink (which is really about our small size), so I didn't put any ice in it. The straw covers here are really cool. They're clear plastic, and if you pull up on the cover about an inch from the end the end of the cover will pop off very clean. Not like in America, where you have to pound the straw on the table to get it out of the cover. Oh yeah, and the cashier gave me a little placard with a number written on it. So I assumed I had to sit down and wait for my food. But then I realized that everyone else was standing around the cashier's window, and I figured out that by the cashier's window was another window where they bring you your food when your number's called. I know it's simple, but I had no idea what I was doing when I first got there so when I figured out what was going on I felt like a genius! So the terriyaki burger was kind of disappointing. It literally tasted like a Jimmy Dean sausage biscuit with mayonnaise. But at least I had the experience. Oh, and I like the McDonald's bag because it had an Asian Ronald McDonald.
So those were today's adventures. I guess it just goes to show that when there's a language barrier, the simplest things in life (checking out a book, ordering fast food) seem mind-boggling. But being forced to confront such a barrier is what really helps a person learn a language; I hope all of these round and round conversations will make me a better listener and speaker of Japanese.