i just got back from the recycle/second hand shop down the street.
there was this young guy working there and as i walked through the narrow spaces we greeted each other with a "konnichiwa" but eventually, between my questions about moving the furniture and his generic "it's cold today huh..." comments, we ended up chatting. he was almost overly casual in his japanese, but was super friendly and helpful.
there were actually quite a few things (bigger furniture items) that i was interested in, but as i stood there for awhile studying a kitchen shelf unit, he yells over the "wall" of dressers (the place was jam packed FULL of stuff), "maybe you should consult with your boyfriend first huh?" gah...hahahaha, riiiiight. i tried to give some witty "oh, you assume i have one eh?" comment back but i don't think my japanese pulled through for me on that one.
the thing that caught me was that he called me お姉さん. "onesan" literally means "older sister" but it is also the word typically used to when refering to young women or girls (older than you) whose names you don't know. as it turned out i am four years older than him, but i don't know that i've ever been called "onesan" by a japanese guy before.
1. i usually don't pay attention, but now that i think about it, most people probably say "gaijin-san", if anything.
2. i think my chances to chat with japanese people who don't get the full "hello my name is" introduction are few and far between.
3. i'm getting old enough that i'm older than store employees instead of always feeling like i'm a kid in an "adult" world.
it was kind of refreshing.
Monday, April 7, 2008
at the local recycle shop
posted by j. at 5:14 PM
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2 comments:
I get called ojousan a lot, especially by chinese people for some reason (If I get a massage they are usually chinese and they always call me ojousan.....they are not the same place)
I don`t get onesan much at all though except by little kids (some of my students brother and sisters call me onesan)...
I am just happy it isn`t obasan!
Do you get chan added to your name much? I do by friends and usually people I first meet for some reason like to call me lulu chan or laura chan....My fiances parents call me `ro-chan` or `ru-chan` but it is weird because they call my partners brothers wife (confusing huh?) kazumi-san....so does my fiance!
I got in trouble recently as well for calling one of the soccer players on my partners team taka instead of taka-san!
I really have no idea what to call people anymore!
i don't think i've ever been called ojousan actually. and yes, at least the little kids don't already think we are THAT old! haha.
as for "chan"...i am not a huge fan of chan being added to my name. my friend (chelsea) knows i don't like it and adds it to annoy me, just because she can. otherwise, most people just call me by my first name.
and the ru-chan vs. kazumi-san thing...how old is kazumi-san? it might just be an age thing...? also, chan is more casual and friendly, so maybe his parents feel closer to you than they do kazumi-san? and same with taka-san. if shun calls him taka-san, then you probably should too. but again, who knows!
basically the rules and lines of junior/senior, in group/out group, close friend/aquaintance are so fuzzy and confusing that i usually take advantage of the "i'm a foreigner and to some degree don't know any better i'm sorry!" excuse. bad, i know, but sometime quite convenient!
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