March 17, 2004
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Gender-related Karma
Now for a little change of pace, I give you the following phone conversation (and translation) from a few days ago:
English
“ú–{Œê
*Phone Rings*
Me: Hello
Man: Hello. Ah, um… would this be ‘Kaiser’s cellphone?
Me: Yes, this is Kaiser speaking.
Man: Oh, so you mean to say ‘Kaiser’ is not a woman?
Me: Yes… that’s right…
Man: So then, ‘Kaiser’ is a man?
Me: Yes… I’m a man…
Man: Ah, excuse me. I’m very sorry.
*Cut*
s“d˜b‚ª–‚ét
–lF@‚à‚µ‚à‚µ
lF@‚à‚µ‚à‚µBƒAƒ@A‚ ‚ÌEEEƒJƒCƒU[‚³‚ñ‚ÌŒg‘Ñ‚¶‚á‚ ‚è‚Ü‚¹‚ñ‚©H
–lF@‚Í‚¢AƒJƒCƒU[‚Å‚²‚´‚¢‚Ü‚·B
lF@ƒAƒ@A‚‚܂èAƒJƒCƒU[‚³‚ñ‚Í—«‚¶‚á‚È‚¢‚ñ‚Å‚·‚©H
–lF@EEE‚Í‚¢EEE‚»‚¤‚Å‚·‚¯‚ÇEEE
lF@‚¶‚áAƒJƒCƒU[‚³‚ñ‚Í’j«‚Å‚·‚©H
–lF@‚Í‚¢A’j«‚Å‚·EEE
lF@ƒAƒ@AŒ‹‚Å‚·B‚·‚Ý‚Ü‚¹‚ñB
sØ‚ét
Ok, now I wasn’t that serious about my feminine desires… I guess that’s what I get.
Perhaps I should explain why I got the call, by the way. See, I’m looking for part-time work while I’m here to supplement my spending habits (read: afford karaoke and CD’s). What most students do is plain English conversation–i.e., you get paid to converse with someone in English; most often private lessons, but occasionally in classroom settings as well.
At Nagoya International Center (–¼ŒÃ‰®‘ÛƒZƒ“ƒ^[) there’s a frequently-used bulletin board where many students post their profiles and often their pictures. I put one up in February with my picture and too much advertising / not enough information and got no response. I put another one up last week with more information and no picture (and I’ve received a couple of responses at that, but no success).
That’s where the above call comes in. Granted, women may have a bit harder time in Japan–with concerns of subway molesters (‚¿‚©‚ñ), discrimination and the like–but they have a much easier time finding part-time work. That I’ve found to be undeniably true… both due to sketchy salarymen and legitimate English acadamies that teach young children (who do respond better on average to girls). But, I have no problem dealing with sketchy salarymen, so maybe some of y’all can just refer your excess clients you don’t want over to me?
Any thoughts? KF
Comments (6)
Oh that phone call is funny!
Then again, the job thing doesn’t surprise me much. It is true that kids (both male and female) do respond better to girls when it comes to learning. Semi-related random fact: most people in the costumes at theme parks (Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, etc) are women; one of the reasons being that most parents are comfortable with a woman in the costumes than a man. (Random fact based on a magazine article from a few years back)
The —«ƒ{ƒCƒX@sticks whether you like it or not. Maybe if you sing “Hungry Spider” enough you’ll remove the evil magicks.
Ha! Brilliant. I would have loved to hear that one.
Kaiser suggestion: Put the word Man somewhere on the next round of advertising. ^^;;;
I have no problem dealing with a sketchy salary man if he is paying me 5,000yen or more an hour to conversate in English.
Tell that guy to call me, please!
Seriously, I got one response and that was for the english academy where I am working now. I do not get paid 5000 yen, instead I get 1600, less than the average, and I teach rather large groups. This was all that I could get…It is more difficult.