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Yesterday I posted a blog out of the blue. I intended to make this blog focus around Japan, and I suppose my life continues to be tied to Japan. That’s what I get for becoming a Japanese major, right?
So what have I been up to in the chilly winter wonderland of Minnesota?
For one, I’m doing National Novel Writing Month. What I ended up doing was writing down sometimes fictionalized, sometimes not accounts of my adventures last year. It’s been rather helpful in organizing my thoughts, figuring out what’s important, and just having a place to describe all the things I otherwise might not get the chance to describe.
I’m also in the process of applying for JET. That would be the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. It’s awful competitive, so I’m awful nervous. Wish me luck. 頑張りますから。
Last but not least, I’ve suddenly developed the dire urge to learn 南部弁 (Nanbu-ben). Nanbu-ben is a dialect from northern Japan. While in Japan I met one fellow member of the jazz club whose slight accent I always had difficulty understanding. “Where are you from?” I asked him, eventually leading him to speak a full-blown version of his dialect. I couldn’t understand a single word, and neither could anyone else in the room. This includes the other Japanese people. I guess from that moment I was intrigued. In Nanbu-ben many of the aspirated consonants become non-aspirated (like た becoming だ), and there are cases where the vowels switch (this is part of a broader dialect known as ずうずう弁, Zuuzuu-ben, where し becomes ず, or something like that). They also have plenty of specialized vocabulary and different inflections.
Most of my Japanese friends wonder why in the world I would have an interest in that dialect. It was the total lack of comprehension by everyone involved that got me. When I went to Nagasaki, it wasn’t until later than someone asked, “Could you understand the dialect?” that I even noticed there had been one. This was why Nanbu-ben wouldn’t leave my brain, but Nagasaki’s dialect went right through.
In general, though, I find the various dialects interesting. Naturally I know my share of Hiroshima-ben. I like Hiroshima-ben also. They say it’s one of the more masculine sounding dialects. 一番面白いのは「ぶちたいぎい」ww
I’ve also heard that Fukui prefecture has an ugly dialect. I want to learn that, too.
