don't make me be bi-lingual on you!
Apr. 16th, 2008 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
parasitegirlI continue to freecycle. People do appreciate it, which is good because it's a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes.
Freecycle here works primarily with the great "Chakubarai" (recipient pays the shipping fee when the item gets there) shipping system of Japan, and after that it's pick-ups. You can send packages Chakubarai or various other shipping methods from most convenience stores at any hour of the day as long as the items are staying in-country.
I fear that the items I sent this morning on my way to work may never get anywhere.
Today's conviniworker had no clue and instead of saying something like "I don't know how to do that, sorry, could you try later when someone who knows is here?" kept telling me that what I wanted couldn't be done, they didn't do it. Liar! LIAR!
That put me into attack mode. I may not be eloquent in Japanese, but I am gloriously bilingual when it comes to being abrasive. I explained that I have done it before, I had done it at this location, and it could be done. She then rummaged around and gave me the wrong forms. I told her it was wrong, and that the forms were right ( I scanned the japanese and I pointed to the Japanese-labeled drawer behind her) there!
True, any Japanese worker who can't scan Japanese labels as quickly as I can is not going to be Employee of the Month anytime soon.
Once I filled out the forms, using romanji because I am not going to look-up kanji when people email me a romanji-writen address, she told me she couldn't do it because everything was in English.
"It's Japanese written in romaniji and is a legal way to send things in Japan,! Do you want me to read it out loud to you ? CHI_BA_KEN, CHI_BA_SHI....
(For fucks sake, the form was in Japanese, what info goes where is clearly marked...)
I knew she was filling things in wrong, and stamping in the wrong order, and hadn't weighed the item or indicated how much the recipient would have to pay, but when I tried to correct her she just snapped that these things take time! So I spent my time making sure that each of the 2 forms stayed with the the right packages.
I know that I was a bitch to her, but I suspect that she wouldn't have pulled half the "we can't do that" lies out of her ass if I were Japanese. It is something I have a horrible time dealing with, keeping my cool when faced with the wrong gaijin assuptions.
It's bitten me in the ass before. My least favorite of my Yoga Elves was unfortunately teaching Hot Hula Level 3 when I took it about two weeks ago. I'd found 1 and 2 to be painfully slow and only taken them once each and tried to have fun. The teacher for those classes has seen me perform, so she understood that I wasn't really challenged. I took level three thinking it might be quick enough...
It wasn't. The teacher was my least favorite elf...who has never seen me perform.
Toward the end the teacher was explaining to the class that what we were learning was hard it it might take a while and blah,blah,blah...and I understood why she might feel this was a needed talk but...I must have had a look on my face so she made the mistake of tilting her head with pitying look and saying to me in Japanese.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you don't understand...do you?"
I was shocked, two + years of various hot yoga classes .... I couldn't stop it, I blurted out.
"Oh, no. I understand what you're saying, but I find this really easy. I was thinking some of what people might not understand is because of your way of explaining movements but I didn't want to say....oh.."
Freecycle here works primarily with the great "Chakubarai" (recipient pays the shipping fee when the item gets there) shipping system of Japan, and after that it's pick-ups. You can send packages Chakubarai or various other shipping methods from most convenience stores at any hour of the day as long as the items are staying in-country.
I fear that the items I sent this morning on my way to work may never get anywhere.
Today's conviniworker had no clue and instead of saying something like "I don't know how to do that, sorry, could you try later when someone who knows is here?" kept telling me that what I wanted couldn't be done, they didn't do it. Liar! LIAR!
That put me into attack mode. I may not be eloquent in Japanese, but I am gloriously bilingual when it comes to being abrasive. I explained that I have done it before, I had done it at this location, and it could be done. She then rummaged around and gave me the wrong forms. I told her it was wrong, and that the forms were right ( I scanned the japanese and I pointed to the Japanese-labeled drawer behind her) there!
True, any Japanese worker who can't scan Japanese labels as quickly as I can is not going to be Employee of the Month anytime soon.
Once I filled out the forms, using romanji because I am not going to look-up kanji when people email me a romanji-writen address, she told me she couldn't do it because everything was in English.
"It's Japanese written in romaniji and is a legal way to send things in Japan,! Do you want me to read it out loud to you ? CHI_BA_KEN, CHI_BA_SHI....
(For fucks sake, the form was in Japanese, what info goes where is clearly marked...)
I knew she was filling things in wrong, and stamping in the wrong order, and hadn't weighed the item or indicated how much the recipient would have to pay, but when I tried to correct her she just snapped that these things take time! So I spent my time making sure that each of the 2 forms stayed with the the right packages.
I know that I was a bitch to her, but I suspect that she wouldn't have pulled half the "we can't do that" lies out of her ass if I were Japanese. It is something I have a horrible time dealing with, keeping my cool when faced with the wrong gaijin assuptions.
It's bitten me in the ass before. My least favorite of my Yoga Elves was unfortunately teaching Hot Hula Level 3 when I took it about two weeks ago. I'd found 1 and 2 to be painfully slow and only taken them once each and tried to have fun. The teacher for those classes has seen me perform, so she understood that I wasn't really challenged. I took level three thinking it might be quick enough...
It wasn't. The teacher was my least favorite elf...who has never seen me perform.
Toward the end the teacher was explaining to the class that what we were learning was hard it it might take a while and blah,blah,blah...and I understood why she might feel this was a needed talk but...I must have had a look on my face so she made the mistake of tilting her head with pitying look and saying to me in Japanese.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you don't understand...do you?"
I was shocked, two + years of various hot yoga classes .... I couldn't stop it, I blurted out.
"Oh, no. I understand what you're saying, but I find this really easy. I was thinking some of what people might not understand is because of your way of explaining movements but I didn't want to say....oh.."
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 06:13 pm (UTC)Are there more post office boxes more common than personal house boxes? Or do packages always need to be picked up?
no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 09:46 pm (UTC)With the public mail system, if I am not home I get a slip, from there I can call post office and talk to a person, or call the post office computerized system and punch in my information and set up a second delivery date then, or pick up at the post office the next day.
Private shipping is about the same.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-16 09:49 pm (UTC)Japan has a wonderful COD system. I paid for my Mac with cash when it came to my house, and my Muji shelves will be paid that way on Saturday. Japan has no checks and people are still more about cash than card.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-17 03:02 am (UTC)