(no subject)
I think I'm going to record this trip in compartmentalized form, with one topic for each major entry. It's much easier for me that way, and a good deal less stressful. As many of the people who read this are not particularly familiar with Japan and its attendant oddities, there will be frequent explanations. To the sizable number of you who have no need for them at all, my apologies in advance; please feel free to correct me if there's a mistake.
BASEBALL IN JAPAN (or what I've noticed thereof)
I haven't summarized my host family yet, really. I think I will do that on Monday. For the present, be satisfied with the fact that my host father (Otousan) is really obsessed with the Hanshin Tigers (who if I remember correctly are based in Osaka). Obaachan, his mother, lives downstairs and is also a huge fan. Apparently Obaachan's late father and my host brother Yuusuke, who is grown now, were also season ticket holders. Aww, the family that insults the umpire together. (That actually isn't done much in Japan. I am not surprised.)
Anyway... there's a cabinet in the main room that is chock-full of Tigers memorabilia, and Otousan's room and car are decorated to the nines in similar fashion.
So, I wrote the following little notes last night while watching the Tigers play the Chuunichi Dragons (from Nagoya)... my oneesan, Momoko, works in Nagoya and apparently has been seduced to the dark side of the stadium by her Dragons-loving boifurendo. She is bringing him home to meet the parents in late July, and while Otousan is light-hearted about this situation it should nonetheless give rise to amusingly awkward baseball situations.
[from last night:]
God I love Japanese baseball. I taught Otousan what "we need a rally!" means, because the Tigers really need a rally right now. They were winning for half the game before Chunichi magically managed to get 6 runs. wtf. Otousan is not happy. Later he remembered hearing "we need a rally!" in Major League. ("Chaarii Shiin no yakyuu no eiga...") Heheheh. Last night I taught him what a "pickle" was and he thought it was funny; they don't seem have a special word for that situation in Japanese. (Edit: They do. It means something boring like "tense situation" and I forgot it.) Here are some other baseball words:
yakyuu: baseball
senshu: player
chiimu: team
geemu or shiai: game
unpaiya or shinban: umpire
sutoraiku: strike
booru: ball
auto: out
tsuu-surii: full count
The Japanese do the count with strikes first and balls second. The count is read using English numbers with Japanese pronunciation: wan, tsuu, surii. There is no special word for "full count".
pitchaa: pitcher
katchaa: catcher
batto: bat
eraa: error
(position)-furai-(o)-toru: catch the ball, ex: katchaa ga furai o toru. Yes, it's called a "fly" no matter what the angle of the ball or who catches it. Oh, the joys of wasei-eigo.
hitto: hit
hoomu-ran: home run
ten: run
ten o toru: score
furu: swing
kyuujou: stadium
naitaa: night game
taimurii-hitto ("timely hit"): I'm not sure how exact the usage of this phrase is, but it seems definitely to be used when someone whacks a good hit at crunch time. But the announcers et al. really use it with gusto. "TAIMURII-HITTO!"
gyaku-ten: coming from behind, which is what the Tigers better be doing very soon
The fans seem to participate in those organized cheers (probably started by the Jumbotron as in America, but maybe I hear a band in the stadium) more than spontaneously yelling things at the field. Also, almost all of them are carrying or wearing team paraphernalia (little bats, little tiger ears, signs rooting for their favorite player, etc.). They don't seem to do the wave, but maybe I haven't noticed that yet.
Fun facts:
Japan has two leagues. One's the Pacific League and the other I forget at the moment. Most of the teams are owned by and named after companies.
The ball is slightly smaller than the American ball and flies farther.
There are only ever three extra innings. If the score is still tied at the end of the 12th inning, the game just ends in a draw. (There's no drawing in baseball! It's worth noting, though, that Otousan was equally astonished at the American rule.)
The number of foreign players in each game is limited to three. The Tigers' first baseman is a gaijin named Andy Sheets. (There's another one on the roster, but Otousan says he's pretty useless.) Chunichi has two black guys called Woods and Alex. (Is that his last name? All they call him is Arekkusu, and it's on his jersey) I wonder, when two teams that start foreigners would exceed the limit, who gets to decide... or if that even happens.
They sell bento boxes at stadiums instead of "baseball food". I don't notice any wandering vendors of the sort so common in the States, though I could be wrong.
The star of the team is Akahoshi, who leads the league (and possibly also Japan) in stolen bases because he is damn fast. It's rumored that he really wants to play in America. Akahoshi is a rare surname that, yes, means "Red Star". He has a lot of cute female fans who wave red stars around when he's up at bat. (Almost all of the players have groupies, gaijin included, who make very nice-looking signs and display them with great vigor.)
The players still scratch their balls, because some things in this world are universal and unchanging.
Ouch, the Dragons just scored 3 runs on a double/error. Now it's 9 to 2 and coming up on the bottom of the ninth. The Tigers are fucked six ways to Sunday. (Edit: This really sucked, because they were winning until the fifth inning, and last night Toritani hit a home run in the bottom of the twelfth to win the game) Otousan is annoyed and Obaachan probably is too. Now it's ofuro time. He's actually taking one tonight, which means I will probably get to see him naked too (oh baby). Oh God, I hope he doesn't pop a boner or anything because that would be embarrassing as crap. Hahaha, I just saw an Anabukin-chan commercial. That made me think of TMOL. (Final note - no, I didn't end up seeing Otousan naked, and the Tigers did get well and truly pwned. Till next time.)
BASEBALL IN JAPAN (or what I've noticed thereof)
I haven't summarized my host family yet, really. I think I will do that on Monday. For the present, be satisfied with the fact that my host father (Otousan) is really obsessed with the Hanshin Tigers (who if I remember correctly are based in Osaka). Obaachan, his mother, lives downstairs and is also a huge fan. Apparently Obaachan's late father and my host brother Yuusuke, who is grown now, were also season ticket holders. Aww, the family that insults the umpire together. (That actually isn't done much in Japan. I am not surprised.)
Anyway... there's a cabinet in the main room that is chock-full of Tigers memorabilia, and Otousan's room and car are decorated to the nines in similar fashion.
So, I wrote the following little notes last night while watching the Tigers play the Chuunichi Dragons (from Nagoya)... my oneesan, Momoko, works in Nagoya and apparently has been seduced to the dark side of the stadium by her Dragons-loving boifurendo. She is bringing him home to meet the parents in late July, and while Otousan is light-hearted about this situation it should nonetheless give rise to amusingly awkward baseball situations.
[from last night:]
God I love Japanese baseball. I taught Otousan what "we need a rally!" means, because the Tigers really need a rally right now. They were winning for half the game before Chunichi magically managed to get 6 runs. wtf. Otousan is not happy. Later he remembered hearing "we need a rally!" in Major League. ("Chaarii Shiin no yakyuu no eiga...") Heheheh. Last night I taught him what a "pickle" was and he thought it was funny; they don't seem have a special word for that situation in Japanese. (Edit: They do. It means something boring like "tense situation" and I forgot it.) Here are some other baseball words:
yakyuu: baseball
senshu: player
chiimu: team
geemu or shiai: game
unpaiya or shinban: umpire
sutoraiku: strike
booru: ball
auto: out
tsuu-surii: full count
The Japanese do the count with strikes first and balls second. The count is read using English numbers with Japanese pronunciation: wan, tsuu, surii. There is no special word for "full count".
pitchaa: pitcher
katchaa: catcher
batto: bat
eraa: error
(position)-furai-(o)-toru: catch the ball, ex: katchaa ga furai o toru. Yes, it's called a "fly" no matter what the angle of the ball or who catches it. Oh, the joys of wasei-eigo.
hitto: hit
hoomu-ran: home run
ten: run
ten o toru: score
furu: swing
kyuujou: stadium
naitaa: night game
taimurii-hitto ("timely hit"): I'm not sure how exact the usage of this phrase is, but it seems definitely to be used when someone whacks a good hit at crunch time. But the announcers et al. really use it with gusto. "TAIMURII-HITTO!"
gyaku-ten: coming from behind, which is what the Tigers better be doing very soon
The fans seem to participate in those organized cheers (probably started by the Jumbotron as in America, but maybe I hear a band in the stadium) more than spontaneously yelling things at the field. Also, almost all of them are carrying or wearing team paraphernalia (little bats, little tiger ears, signs rooting for their favorite player, etc.). They don't seem to do the wave, but maybe I haven't noticed that yet.
Fun facts:
Japan has two leagues. One's the Pacific League and the other I forget at the moment. Most of the teams are owned by and named after companies.
The ball is slightly smaller than the American ball and flies farther.
There are only ever three extra innings. If the score is still tied at the end of the 12th inning, the game just ends in a draw. (There's no drawing in baseball! It's worth noting, though, that Otousan was equally astonished at the American rule.)
The number of foreign players in each game is limited to three. The Tigers' first baseman is a gaijin named Andy Sheets. (There's another one on the roster, but Otousan says he's pretty useless.) Chunichi has two black guys called Woods and Alex. (Is that his last name? All they call him is Arekkusu, and it's on his jersey) I wonder, when two teams that start foreigners would exceed the limit, who gets to decide... or if that even happens.
They sell bento boxes at stadiums instead of "baseball food". I don't notice any wandering vendors of the sort so common in the States, though I could be wrong.
The star of the team is Akahoshi, who leads the league (and possibly also Japan) in stolen bases because he is damn fast. It's rumored that he really wants to play in America. Akahoshi is a rare surname that, yes, means "Red Star". He has a lot of cute female fans who wave red stars around when he's up at bat. (Almost all of the players have groupies, gaijin included, who make very nice-looking signs and display them with great vigor.)
The players still scratch their balls, because some things in this world are universal and unchanging.
Ouch, the Dragons just scored 3 runs on a double/error. Now it's 9 to 2 and coming up on the bottom of the ninth. The Tigers are fucked six ways to Sunday. (Edit: This really sucked, because they were winning until the fifth inning, and last night Toritani hit a home run in the bottom of the twelfth to win the game) Otousan is annoyed and Obaachan probably is too. Now it's ofuro time. He's actually taking one tonight, which means I will probably get to see him naked too (oh baby). Oh God, I hope he doesn't pop a boner or anything because that would be embarrassing as crap. Hahaha, I just saw an Anabukin-chan commercial. That made me think of TMOL. (Final note - no, I didn't end up seeing Otousan naked, and the Tigers did get well and truly pwned. Till next time.)