Plomotion

No, that is not a typo. Just an example of a stereotypical Japanese person's mistake =)

I looked at my schedule and that was in the middle of my lunch break for tomorrow. I asked my manager what she meant by "plomotion." She told me a camera man is coming to take more pictures of me tomorrow. Oh...pRomotion! (Actually I figured that out quickly, I just liked teasing her).

It's just funny sometimes how some things wind up being translated into English. A lot of it always catches me off guard, but at this point I have gotten used to hearing odd things and instantly making the connection with what was meant.

My favorite, and this STILL catches me off guard, is "Are you OK?" Someone, down the line, must have taught someone at my branch that "Are you OK?" = "How are you?" I used to get asked that ALL the time in the beginning and it would make me stop dead in my tracks in horror that I didn't look happy enough or was making a bad face without realizing it. Because, to me at least, "Are you Ok?" is a question you ask someone when something seems wrong. We have done a bit damage control in correcting this, but I still hear it sometimes, and although I now know what is meant, it still catches me off guard every time.

Another example, a few weeks ago my manager and assistant manager were going to take me around to businesses and have me say "Hi" in English while they offered them discounts for lessons. My manager told me, "Lindsay, I want you to smile!" And I was thinking to myself..."Have I not been smiling when I do promotional (plomotional-ha) events???" Then, I realized she meant she wanted me to be "exciting."

Besides this, there are these set phrases Japanese people just LOVE, yet seem sooo cheesy to me. Yet, I find myself tossing them in all over the place with new student interviews, counsellings, or even lessons, just because I know they LOVE to hear it! Even if it doesn't really apply to what we are directly talking about. I am also starting to use them in my own conversations out of habit. Catchy.

"Do your best." -You can say this to anyone/anywhere and they will give you a determined face and nod in firm agreement, if you're lucky maybe even make a fighting fist. It doesn't matter if you are coaching them to be more enthusiastic about English, or they told you they wanted to buy a pair of shoes. For some reason, it always works.

"Let's study!" or "Let's study together!" (the cheesiest). Honestly, if someone in the US said that to me if I was looking into taking a class, I would be weirded out. But here, they LOVE it (but then again they also like cow intestine soup). Once again, you can just toss it in anywhere. New student interview, a letter to a continuously absent student, a student who HAS been studying with you religiously, a stranger on the street...yeah they love it.