Saboten Girl

girlfriends

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:18:42 +0900

I like going to this saturday class when I can, because my friend goes and we sort of hang out and have a chat and catch up.

I need some more girlfriends. I mean, girlfriends I can go out with (this friend is sober, no going out for drinks). I can hang with another friend on sundays, maybe afternoon/evening after her hangover clears up, because she’s a hostess who works all night and sleeps all day.

That must have been what it was like trying to hang out with me back in the day…

tomato jam

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:11:47 +0900

Tomato jam. So good.

Everyone almost licked the jar last night.

I know it sounds weird but believe me, it’s awesome.

We hung out with this guy who we found out lives in the neighborhood, iraqi jew, family in israel, canadian passport, so funny. I haven’t hung out with another jew in ages, and it’s weird, but i realized i missed it.

in bed, falling asleep, I said to my man that I liked that guy. He got all jealous. “How much do you like him?”

Thanks so much! Choosing the Gaijin Card story!

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:22:04 +0900

Thanks y’all! That was so helpful, thanks so much!

4 and 5 were very close, but it was 6 by a long shot. And I think that’s great because in a lot of ways it’s universal and relevant today (even though it was written in the 1950s), and I think it would have meaning for people in the English speaking world too. Which is important for a translated work.

I like that one, personally too. I think because it felt so real to my own experiences.

And Adamukun, The writer’s name is 金達寿, I’ve seen it translated different ways, but I think I like it written as Kim Dal-Su the best.

AngryPolishGirl, hopefully you can read all of them soon! it’d be great if I could get them published!

Playing words with friends.

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:37:06 +0900

Playing words with friends.

help me choose please?

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:27:52 +0900

Trying to choose which story to send in to the university publication.

The author I translated was one of the first major zainichi (ethnically Korean) writers in Japan. He wrote about the early days, during Korea’s colonization and the days when Koreans were part of the Japanese Empire, to the switchover when suddenly they were “foreigners” even though they had nowhere to go and Japan was their home!

If anybody has the patience to take a moment, could you tell me which story sounds the most interesting?

Story written in the early 1960s, about how people in a small town outside of Tokyo have to build a memorial to the Koreans they massacred 40 years previously, so they can take part in the real estate boom. It’s kind of funny, even though the topic is heavy.
One of his first stories, a very short, from the heart story of the day he was taken away from his grandmother’s home in a small village in Korea, to join his family in Japan.
Story about a simple, hard working, slightly devious zainichi korean dude who just relentlessly fights against the odds to become a successful trash collector.
Story about an old school Korean “gentleman” who insists on wearing traditional clothing and keeping his hair up in a top knot, and his business partner, a modern looking Korean dude who is charming enough to be accepted by Japanese society, and they grift rich Japanese people by selling them “medicine,” which actually works, but it’s still illegal.
Complicated story about a complicated family and how the “repatriation” campaign to send zainichi Koreans “back” to North Korea (even most came from the same 3 provinces in the south) forced some of them to realize they were actually more Japanese than Korean, etc.
Story about a Korean kid who enters Japan illegally to join some family members after shit goes down with the Korean war, and then he has to get his fake gaijin card renewed. Actually, I really like this one.
Story of an old, old school hard working zainichi dude who just keeps working and not changing, despite things changing all over the place around him (growing north korean sympathy, civil rights changes, etc.)
Seriously depressing story of an old dude who’s “repatriating” to north Korean, but before he does, he goes to the grave of his fellow massacred Koreans, that he barely escape from.

So, which one???

I bought this little book, and it’s all about pickling,...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:24:07 +0900

I bought this little book, and it’s all about pickling, and I love it!

DIY

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:45:45 +0900

I have gone completely DIY.

Koenji’s a pretty hippy type of place (while, thank god, still being the city). I have a herb garden that’s finally settling down and looking alright, I’ve been making jams and pickles, always some sun tea in the fridge, my man makes his own beer.

It’s nothing major, but it’s nice. These days I don’t leave the house much.

Got so much work! Always work. I’m not complaining.

My old professor’s been in touch, we’re sorting out getting one of the stories I translated published in this school publication. Exciting! I have to contact the estate of the author and get copyright permission. Trying to choose which story to send in.

Everyday I’m pickling.

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:30:38 +0900

Everyday I’m pickling.

Oh god, I’d retake them but it’ll just be crap...

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:21:14 +0900

Oh god, I’d retake them but it’ll just be crap again.

3eanuts: June 17, 1970 — see The Complete Peanuts...

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:18:34 +0900

3eanuts:

June 17, 1970 — see The Complete Peanuts 1967-1970

There are days like this.

pink flowers

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:43:08 +0900

Well, feel a little better.

I feel like I’m losing my mind right now. What I’m going through is actually a form of psychosis (my friend says), and I have to say, if this biological clock is this hard to deal with, I am NOT looking forward to menopause, because I might actually murder someone.

My man bought me a pot of pink flowers for my desk to cheer me up. The tag said “mother’s day” (I’m sure he didn’t see it) and for a second I almost threw the flowers across the house! Help me…

I had to call osaka city hall for a bunch of paper work crap, and hearing the Osaka accept was so nice. I miss it. Tokyo talk is kind of annoying.

everything is shit

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:39:22 +0900

Oh my god, this is just one of those days when EVERYTHING’S fucking going wrong.

I want to punch something. Seriously, it will really make me feel better.

Everything’s going wrong.

I feel like everyone’s hassling me.

But that’s life.

Maybe it’s like when I get a migraine (which I haven’t had in awhile). It’s just never going to get better, my head’s going to pound and my vision’s going to be blurry until the day ends and I sleep, press the restart button, and start a new day.

Real-life Grave of the Fireflies: (Photo) Stoic Japanese...

Sun, 12 May 2013 22:13:57 +0900

Real-life Grave of the Fireflies: (Photo) Stoic Japanese orphan, standing at attention having brought his dead younger brother to a cremation pyre, Nagasaki, by Joe O’Donnell 1945

This photograph was taken by an American photojournalist, Joe O’Donnell, in Nagasaki in 1945.

He recently spoke to a Japanese interviewer about this picture:

“I saw a boy about ten years old walking by. He was carrying a baby on his back. In those days in Japan, we often saw children playing with their little brothers or sisters on their backs, but this boy was clearly different. I could see that he had come to this place for a serious reason. He was wearing no shoes. His face was hard. The little head was tipped back as if the baby were fast asleep.

“The boy stood there for five or ten minutes. The men in white masks walked over to him and quietly began to take off the rope that was holding the baby. That is when I saw that the baby was already dead. The men held the body by the hands and feet and placed it on the fire.

“The boy stood there straight without moving, watching the flames. He was biting his lower lip so hard that it shone with blood. The flame burned low like the sun going down. The boy turned around and walked silently away.

at least I found my electronic dictionary

Sun, 12 May 2013 15:57:35 +0900

Oh, job fell through anyway.

Translation/interpretation into English is good because it’s the default language for the world. But at the same time, it’s not the first language for a lot of the world.

So if they can find the someone who can do the rarer language, it’s much better.

It’s like you’re always the second best, backup.

English is still a wonderful language though, for that very reason. It’s almost universal, and so it’s so alive.

ugh

Sun, 12 May 2013 15:27:08 +0900

Oh god, I just found my electronic dictionary. It is filthy. Disgusting.

And it’s so old!

Ugh.

Maybe I should get a new one.

been awhile

Sun, 12 May 2013 15:25:42 +0900

First interpreting job in awhile. I’ve been all busy/lazy with these game translations.

Better get some batteries in my electronic dictionary. Where the fuck did I put that thing?

My therapist once told me that when you push people away, it means you strive for the unavailable/unattainable. If you had a parent that was unavailable as a child it's all you've known, so you subconsciously try to recreate that relationship. I have the same issue in my relationships (fantasizing about leaving). Stay strong, and ride it out.

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:11:52 +0900

That is very good advise. And true. Fuck that, recreating the family I come from is the last thing I ever want to do.

You too sister, stay strong!

hard work

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:24:47 +0900

Well I don’t know what happened, but he came home from his pub crawl thing as the sun was rising, alllllll ready for some loving. He had a job interview this morning, which he got a haircut for, but he said fuck that, I want to stay up all night/morning on you.

He has endless energy.

he said he got hit on by some young girls, and he was all happy about that.

I love him. But relationships are hard work. I’ve been having fantasies of leaving him and being free again, but I know that’s just because I’m scared of the hard work and the growing connection.

Stick it out!

moving on

Sun, 12 May 2013 01:24:21 +0900

Why are friends so awesome? Got to connect with some really really close ones tonight. Putting things in perspective, making me laugh, all that good stuff.

My professor emailed me. She told me to get permission from the estate of that writer I did my thesis on, so that I can get one of my translations published in the school publication.

And I need to do that.

Enough with this silly business of making money.

Moving on to following my dreams.

Enough with being a slave to my hormones.

Moving on with some honesty and admissions.

moving on!

alright.

Sat, 11 May 2013 22:17:50 +0900

He works on Saturday evenings, and when the mini me’s here, I have to watch him.

Which is fine, but then I can’t go to this roller dance class I like to go to with my girlfriend. And I like that class.

But it’s alright.