Miyakonojou Dialect is seriously funky, though, 'cause it's one of the few Japanese dialects which has no tones. Plus the slang is so different that it sounds like a completely different language. (Of course, the first time I heard Kansai Dialect, it sounded like a completely different language too.) For example, let's say I want to say, "It's sunny right now, but I have to stay in my room and study. Because I have a test tomorrow.**"
Tokyo Dialect:
今晴れなんだけど、部屋にいて勉強しなきゃ。明日テストだから。
Ima hare nan da kedo, heya ni ite benkyou shinakya. Ashita tesuto da kara.
Kansai Dialect
今晴れのんやけど、部屋にいて勉強せんなあかん。明日テストだし。
Ima hare non yakedo, heya ni ite benkyou sennaakan. Ashita tesuto da shi.
Miyakonoujou Dialect
今晴れどん、部屋にいて勉強せんないかん。明日テストで。
Ima hare don, heya ni ite benkyou sennaikan. Ashita tesuto de.
どん？ Seriously, that is so weird to say.
Something else funky in Kansai Dialect is that 違う (chigau; different) is shortened to ちゃう (chau) and used as sort of a "right?" as well as a "different."
Thus this crazy conversation is possible:
A: あれ、チャウチャウちゃう？
Are, chau chau chau?
Is that a chow-chow (as in the type of dog)?
B:ちゃうちゃう。チャウチャウちゃう。
Chau chau. Chau chau chau.
No, no. That's not a chow-chow.
Confused yet?
In other news, we had the first of our student-taught classes today. It was about girls' education in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation. Wednesday is when I'm teaching my class, along with another girl, whose reading is from a manga called My Darling Is a Foreigner. It looks...odd to say the least.
In other news, my host family. Have I mentioned that they are awesome? They are awesome.
Monday's the one day that my host dad's restaurant is closed***, so he actually eats dinner with the rest of us on Monday evenings. (Otherwise I usually only see him at breakfast.) Monday night dinners also tend to be めちゃおいしい (crazy delicious). Correlation?
In any case, my host mom taught me to debone YET ANOTHER type of fish (and it was crazy delicious) and she made some sort of pasta with salmon and sausage and mushrooms and there was also Japanese eggplant (which, by the way, tastes so much better than American eggplant) and edamame and cucumbers.**** YUM.
Also, my host mom keeps being surprised when I know the names of Japanese foods. Today she was shocked that I knew what komatsuna was. Maybe...most American students studying here don't cook Japanese food?
Anyway, after dinner my host brothers and I had homework so we were all sitting at the dining room table doing homework. And then when we were done we (my host brothers and I) played Uno with my host dad. And I learned five thousand new ways to complain about losing! Mwahahaha.
Let's see, what other exciting things have been happening? Not a whole lot, I guess. I gave a presentation in class today about the differences between Western religions and Eastern religions. It went okay-ish, even though certain people's eyes were glazing over. It's three minutes, guys. Really, it's not that hard to pay attention for THREE MINUTES. Oh well. I guess that's what I get for talking about one of the Forbidden Subjects in Polite Conversation.
(I find it kind of amusing that what I find really interesting makes everyone else extraordinarily uncomfortable. Then again, as anyone who has ever taken a discussion class with me knows, I am really good at making people uncomfortable. OH YEAH. Grave of the Fireflies discussion, anyone?)
In any case, I think I'm going to go read about darling foreigners a little bit and then go to bed. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, which'll be nice, 'cause it's suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper hot and humid right now.
G'night!
*For anyone not in the know, Tokyo Dialect is the standard dialect taught in schools (and in American universities).
**"Because I have a test tomorrow" is a full sentence in Japanese, even though it's not in English. CRAZY.
***Unlike the U.S. where everything closes on Sundays (I would hazard a guess that this is because of Christianity), businesses will close on random days in Japan. It seems like Monday and Tuesday are the most popular days to close for some reason.
****Someone asked me about seasonal vegetables in Japan this time of year an age ago, and now I have your answer. My host mom said that the vegetables that are most often associated with summer (not necessarily the only ones in season, but the iconic ones) are okra, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, and corn. So now you know. Raw okra is delicious, by the way, even though it kind of looks like you're eating drool.
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