トウキホウホホ

We are all aware in Japan of just how much care the 'system' takes of us, its citizens and residents. My favourite safety announcement is in the Chukagai-Motomachi station in Yokohama, where speakers on the escalator say "You are on the up [or down] escalator between the platform and the exit level," which is obviously a safety net for Alzheimer's sufferers. "Please mind the gap between the train and the platform" is a universal announcement these days, but is "from this point on, the train might shake a little. Please take care." (Marunouchi Line) really necessary for passenger safety?

Not just such hazards as these, but even any roadworks which disrupt pedestrians' right of way are so over-diverted as to be laughable. Cones, striped 'hazard' ribbon, fences, a guy standing with a protective lightsaber, a flowerpot and a picture of a squirrel will guide you safely around the massive hole that would have been tough to miss anyway. Coming from the UK, where roadworkers wouldn't dream of hanging around after dark to stop people from being killed, and common sense must prevail, it all seems a bit unnecessary. And to this end, the ultimate nanny state would ensure that international standards be introduced so that Japanese people are not endangered when travelling in less pampered nations - I read somewhere that in 2004, 4 Japanese pedestrians in London were seriously injured after falling down holes in roadworks, which were most likely surrounded by the foolproof barricade of a faintly-drawn yellow chalk circle.

I have been teaching to fund studying for a long time, and although I love the students and do enjoy teaching one-to-one, I find that I never feel good after a class, and have concluded that it can't be my calling. But, as I want to continue to study, I thought I should find another way to fund it.

Translation seemed a good option, and although I have found that the best work always comes through word-of-mouth (and have been lucky enough to have had some really great work), I started off very gung ho about it and applied to all kinds of agencies. Last week an agency that I have heard from once before (for an interesting job) got in touch and asked would I like to take on a translation. It was a "safety data sheet" for a company making window sealants - not the type of work that makes my heart sing, but I had some spare hours on my hands this week and thought it might be a good thing to do. And I might learn some new Japanese. I took a look at the first few pages of the file, and it all seemed fine - uses, materials, instructions, etc., and I timed how long 100 words took me and the pay seemed reasonable enough, so I yarasete itadakimashita (took on the job).

100 words of stale technical data is one thing.

I am more or less an artistic type, with literary aspirations and a rather-too-vivid imagination. I dream of dragons and whales' tails flipping me up in the air then breaking my fall. And yet here I was, at the behest of a total stranger, translating one of the pages I had skim-read for word count in order to explain, amongst other things, that if one embeds this material into a mouse for four days, or pulverises it and gives it intravenously at the required standard test dose of 500ppm, the mouse (the same one?) will suffer no ill effects. What?? I toiled day and night (with a very sophisticated system of avoidance) with ignition points, rinsing the entire eyeball in running water, tensile strength tests, and a number of small animals who were happily fine, even after all they had been through.

6800 words of stale, technical data turned out to be my idea of a nightmare. I presume now that the stupid translations of instruction booklets we see everywhere exist because sitting in front of a computer writing these things for mediocre wages is an affront to those who have taken the time and trouble to learn a language. If I wasn't such a moral person, I would have written a great big load of utter shite and got paid for it. Rock on to those who do just that, as they make us laugh after all. I just pray the word-of-mouth keeps moving for those of us who can take on crap jobs but can't do a crap job...

初めてのＢＬＯＧです。読んでくれる人に感謝します！どもども、今日は。
今日は晴れて良かったね、と思いながら昼までベッドに居ました。昨日はＴｈｅＦａｃｅｆｕｌと言うかっこいいバンドのメンバーがオーガナイズした飲み会に参加した。皆は素直でロックアンドロールタイプだったので、尊敬すべき存在いっぱい居た。だから自分のくだらない話なんて足りないと思って、素直にロックアンドロールの形で酒癖の悪い存在になってしまいまして、英語曲のないカラオケボックスに朝まで。。。帰りにラーメン屋さんに除いて大好きなサツマアゲ頼んだけどアアアと言う間に皆はラーメンを〆て帰る準備始めてる。。。手作りのさつま揚げがきたけど食べる時間も無くて、今日一日さつま揚げの味はどうだったのかなあ、と夢中。
夕方から男の友達のイメージチェーンジ活動で新宿での買い物。バーゲンで良い値段がいっぱいあって、三万円近くでイメージ完成。気の強い西洋人の女性二人の意見と命令声は大変だったと思うけど、良い結果になったから良いんじゃねー？笑。超楽しかった。もし皆様にも買い物、ファッションの悩み有りましたら是非頼んで下さいね！
明日はイギリスの偉い学者（美術史関係）が大学で講義をやるつもり。土曜日もバトラー先生の講義もあったし、最近本当に豊かな研究環境にいる感じがする。すごい光栄で感じることに明日、ポロック先生との夕食会にもお誘いがきました。美味しい会話もできそう！酒癖をちょっと抑えないとね。