Woot. Friday. The weeks are getting more intense, work-wise.
I talked to one of my classmates, P-san, for a bit. She’s a nice person, and easy to talk to. We usually wind up talking in English instead of Japanese. She’s got a lot of interesting things to say, and she’s been through a lot, so it’s always fun to compare notes with someone who’s experienced a lot.
He Stuffs His Phrases with Cushions!
JBPP was about asking people for favors again, using lots of “cushion words.” Sounds much more comfortable than it is.
The concept is that some things are just not to be broached without a set phrase to “soften the blow.” And these phrases are called “cushion words.”
For example, you might start off by apologizing (without the other party even knowing why, but that’s what works), or apologizing for interrupting, or apologizing for interrupting at such a busy time, etc.
And the request itself is softened, too. “I realize that you’re terribly busy, but if you have a moment today, could you please take a look at this, it would really be a great help.”
That sort of thing, only in polite Japanese.
We use cushion words in English, too, but I think my fellow Americans use much less padding sometimes, at least internally. For dealing with customers, we use a lot of cushion words, too, we just may not realize it.
Beer + FaceBook = Bad Choices
This evening I went to ZigZag for dinner and a beer again.
I was reminded again that people can be scary, no matter what country you’re in. Alchol makes this worse.
Tonight’s example: One of the local women was trying to stalk one of the students online because she fell in love with his hair. To be more precise, she fell in love with a picture of him, so she wanted his name so she could find his FaceBook page… yeah.
So now you know where stalkers sometimes come from: beer + Facebook.
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