So I got a lecture from the powers that be today, and it basically boiled down to one thing: my lack of tatemae, or putting up the correct front. It still grates on my nerves, coming from the culture that I do. We mostly reserve such behavior for the service industry where I come from. It even feels downright dishonest to me at times to do tatemae. But as my bosses put it, I have to act Japanese when I am in Japan, whether or not it makes sense. しょうがない, they say. It can't be helped.
But I am a little irritated at the teachers who reported me for the stark crime of laying on my side to watch a comedy show in the gym on a hot and humid day. They want me to act according to rules I have no way of knowing, to play along, to be a chatty person (in Japanese?), to pretend to be as busy as them, and yet they don't really let me into their group nor try to understand why I am doing things in a way they aren't used to, and they never will.
Clay, quit your bitching and put on a happy face. That's tatemae.
Uh-oh. Don't even get me started on this.
ReplyDeleteWhen you're in the office, "You are in Japan. You must be like Japanese."
Then, when you're in the classroom, "You are American. You must act like an American."
Pick one damn it! I didn't sign up to play the role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
[b]thank you[/b]
ReplyDeleteAlso, tatemae often violates the prime directive of the Jet programe: Show others what your culture is like.
What happened? I still don't get this when to be Japanese and when to not be Japanese thing. It seems more like I should be Japanese when it's convenient for them and be Western when it's inconvenient for me. I should be Japanese when I'm exploited as a worker, and foreign when it means they can exclude me in important matters because I'm just a stupid foreigner, and I'll never "get it". That's probably a lot more negative-sounding than it should be. Anyway, I've always heard しかたがない。What is しょがない？ I don't know dialect stuff at all.
ReplyDeleteしょうがない (you missed the long vowel, which may have let to the confusion), is a standard (non-dialect) variant of しかたがない. Seems like there is one other one out there that sounds similar, but I can't remember.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of variant? By dialect, I also meant colloquialisms, not necessarily sagaben. I believe you, I just don't get it, because じかたがない literally means "there is no way", which is always translated as "it cannot be helped", but what is しょう？
ReplyDeletewell the kanji are 仕様, which kinda mean way, "there is no other way" being the result I guess.
ReplyDeleteI found this info at a dictionary in my misc links section:
「仕様」は「するさま」のことで、方法や手段を意味した。
しょうがないは、「手段や方法さえもない」という意味で使われていたが、手段がないことから諦めの意味として使われるようになった。
Wow - I would NOT do well in that situation. I can barely act appropriately in my office here in Laramie, WY, and it's the most relaxed cubicle atmosphere imaginable (they let me wear kilts to work).
ReplyDeleteFight the power!
I don't understand Japanese at all, but I know the feeling of having the "management" come down on you for not acting a certain way all the time. It's not like I was rude or anything, but they just weren't happy with my disposition. Blah.
ReplyDelete