Japan 2
The flights are booked, the hotels are booked, the travel insurance is bought. We still need some Yen, lots and lots of Yen (1000Y = £5), to visit a country where cash is king, and cards not generally accepted (I’m told).
I may need to go shopping : ( , I have few clothes suitable for a humid 24 degrees and up, and, I still have a bit of language practise to do, I thnk I’ve got a handle on:
Please, (One egg mashed {Onegaishimas})
Thank-you, ( Irrigated and mashed {arigatōgozaimasu})
Excuse-me, (Sue me master { Sumimasen})
Sorry (Go nasty men { Gomen’nasai})
You’re welcome (Don’t touch my Moustache {doitashimashite]).
How much is that? (Icky Desk { Ikuradesu ka}),
Of course the tricky bit here is understanding any reply. Counting in Japanese is – strange. Are you counting, flat things, people, metal things, living things, farm animals, venomous snakes, atomic weights….money? The numbers are NOT the same ??!
Trust me, if three people want three drinks costing 3(thousand) yen each, there is a lot of vocabulary involved. I suspect pointing will be very needful.
And I’m still working on: .. my wife is vegetarian, and does not eat (ANY) meat or fish, but eggs are ok… (likely to be met with -really no fish at all? not even tuna flakes, surely tuna flakes don’t count, they’re more of a seasoning…).
There are amazing apps for this these days, I’m told, and I’m sure there are, but as I’m a guest in another country, I feel at least a small effort on my part is both essential and only polite. I might end up amusing with my bad grammer and worse accent, but I’m no stranger to being a figure of fun, and I will at least know that I have tried.
Sayonara.
Next week on IaDL – Kono Kago wa hebi de ippaidesu, watashi wa torimasen! (slams table emphatically)
Dalmallyfest the Asylum 