Hyomenteki

Posted on 2005/12/17 05:57:37 (December 2005).

[Thursday 16th December]
I've more or less been OK since I started my new job, and haven't had so much of the longing for England's green and pleasant land that I was afflicted by whilst in Japan over the summer. Today though, for no apparent reason, I woke up and decided I really wanted to go back to the UK.

On the way into work I noticed even more than normal that I was the only non-Japanese person on the train, and once in the office the feeling of displacement continued given that, naturally, the staff there are almost entirely Japanese. I had my Japanese lesson from 9:30 in the morning, and I just wasn't in the mood for it. I spent the first half being really unresponsive, and then went for a break to go and stare out the window for a bit. When I got back my teacher somehow managed to guess that I was home sick - I guess people in that position see a lot of that sort of thing. She'd spent some time in England, so we talked for a while about how green it is, and how great Christmas is back in the UK.

They have Christmas here in Japan, but it is just an imported gimmick really. People complain about Christmas being too commercialised in the West, but in Japan they literally only have the commercial bit. At least in England we still have the family gathering aspect, and although other people might dread that (!) I absolutely love to have my family around me.

So this is where my new word came in - hyomenteki - it means superficial. This is how the Japanese do Christmas - as you might expect, not really being a Christian country. In a way though I would rather they didn't put up Christmas decorations at all, rather than this hyomenteki version.

By way of explaining "hyomenteki", my Japanese teacher said the following:

"For example, I don't like you, but I pretend I do."

At first I thought she hadn't sufficient English skills to know how to phrase this properly, but then later I wondered if she really did mean to say it exactly like this. I had to bite my lip not to say "Well that's Japanese people in a nutshell.". It's all very well being polite all the time, but eventually it is difficult to distinguish between the people that genuinely like you and those that are required by the situation to be pleasant. I never really know which it is with Japanese people.

Anyway, I found a way to alleviate my home sickness a bit later on - a shop in Shinjuku station sells mince meat (the variety used for putting in mince pies). I bought a jar and was very pleased to see it was even a recognisable brand - Robertson's - and also had a "suitable for vegetarians" symbol on it. There is of course a strong chance I won't actually get round to making any mince pies, but it is very reassuring to know I have a little jar of Englishness in my cupboard.

Hi John. I wonder if the complete "different-ness" of the Oriental languages disguises how people really feel as well.

As a (not so good) parallel, when I first came to work in Wales, a few Welsh colleagues were very anti-English (wonder how your Dad gets on). On one or two occasions I even received very "uncomplimentary" remarks about me taking a Welsh job away. When people only talked in Welsh near me I had clues.

Eventually though, my co-workers got used to me. Some clearly were just being polite superficially, while others were, and are, genuinely lovely people.

Going to Anglesey once I was told to "F-Off back to England".

This is minor-league stuff compared with real racism or bigotry, but just shows it goes on everywhere.

I know your more obvious isolation is what causes homesickness, it's just unfortunate your teacher's grasp of a "nuance" wasn't as good as it might have been!

Oh and Mincemeat? Splendid!!

Posted by Nigel at 2005/12/17 09:18:00.

Blimey Nigel - it actually sounds like you've had a harder time of it in Wales than I've had in Japan! I've certainly never had anyone say anything outwardly offensive to my face - at least nothing that I've been able to definitely understand. It is always just bordering on my level of comprehension or just out of earshot.

Posted by John at 2005/12/17 14:03:53.

It's no problem, John, I've got a thick skin most of the time. And nowadays either the level of antagonism is less or I don't notice any more!

Being in Japan you have much more a sense of isolation than I could ever claim. Not being able to drive just twenty miles and being out of it would be so much harder for me!

I'd probably join the whiskey society too... and the vodka society, the Guinness appreciation society and the miscellaneous alcoholic beverage society to boot!!

:)))

Posted by Nigel at 2005/12/17 17:15:08.

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