Since I know there are others in this club for whom this book is a challenge, I’ll just leave this here. Know that you are not alone haha.
Just a little angst over page 47
Just got started on this chapter and then got overwhelmed by: 9月の三連休に中学の同窓会があって. I think the most overwhelming thing about it is that I know all the kanji, yet have no idea what is being said. I mean, okay, that’s not true. I’m pretty sure it’s around the time of a three week break in September, not sure how middle school is relevant, but some kind of meeting or event. I guess the whole three week break and 中学の同窓 part is throwing me. I haven’t even researched this, just got overwhelmed by the thought of researching it, honestly.
I’ve developed a system for when I feel overwhelmed by a sentence, which is to locate the part that is throwing me the most, and in this case that is 同窓会, which now I have looked it up and it turns out that it means alumni association or class reunion. I’m still at sea as to what the scenario is, but at least I understand the words I guess.
3 consecutive holidays, i.e. a long weekend in September, most likely because of 敬老の日 (Respect for elders day) and apparently they had a middle school class reunion on that weekend.
What gave me trouble in this chapter was 爪. In my head (thanks to Wanikani) that means “claw”, every time they were talking about “nail(s)” I had a picture of “claws” jumping to my mind
You are not directly asking for advice so I hope it’s okay I write how I go about breaking it down
Maybe the first step is to understand the kanji compounds, 三連休, 中学, 同窓会.
I can see the definitions directly from Yomichan, but if you don’t have lookups available from where you are reading, try Jisho
)
Then next step is to split the sentence, not sure if I have any tip for that, but maybe the particles に and が are a good indication. Something happened somewhere. So we get:
[9月の三連休]に[中学の同窓会]が[あって]
the three consecutive rest days of September [<- during] reunion of middle school [<- subject] took place.
Now read that parsed sentence backwards because it’s Japanese and you got it
Of course! And thanks for wanting to help. (And thanks, @Biblio, too!)
Reading three-day weekend as three week holiday was a pretty big blunder. And definitely contributed to my general sense of confusion and overwhelm. I did follow the general grammar of the sentence (luckily), so I guess my primary point of confusion was actually to do with cultural literacy. Why is there a middle school reunion? Do Japanese adults keep going to reunions for all levels of school? Or was it someone else’s middle school reunion, in which case why would she be involved? (Because of the context I was expecting it to be a work event, but a kindergarten having a middle school reunion also didn’t make sense.)
I figured reading further would probably clarify the situation, but having gotten all overwhelmed by this lil’ pipsqueak of a partial sentence, I wasn’t quite ready to delve back into it yet.
I see what you mean! I think you did the best possible thing, by coming here and writing about it then we can all learn something by discussing the sentence (and as you say, if more people are struggling, they don’t feel alone). Now if someone knows a native, maybe they can ask them about alumni reunions then we will learn even more
Yes. omfg. This is one of the hardest parts I have with consuming a lot of Japanese media. I get that I’m an outsider to the culture and that there are different things valued. And that the issue is really that she “created a commotion” and not just the nail polish. BUT IT’S JUST NAIL POLISH, ffs.
Me too. I felt that Ena wanted to quit too easily for such trivial matter. But I also thought that the working holiday to Australia would make her realize that the world is larger than the current one she was in.
I thought the conclusion of this chapter was really interesting. In typical Aoyama-sensei fashion, the story ended up somewhere that I wasn’t expecting. I initially read it as a story about conservative Japanese values as they get applied to women in the workplace, but it turned out to be more about the philosophy of how best to care for children as a teacher. The way that that turn happens, and the directness of Yasuko in addressing her misunderstanding with Ena was really endearing.
I was a little disappointed with the wrap up to this one. I did like where the story went, but I felt like it didn’t get fully resolved for me. I have had that, “I’ll just make a huge change in my life and it will fix everything,” thought and I’m glad that that’s not how it ended. On the other hand, I feel like she had some actual issues (low pay, not really picking her job for any particular reason) that healing her issues with Yasuko sensei won’t really change.
Also, does anyone else think that Mako chan is Kokoa san?
[quote=“shitsurei, post:14, topic:16133”]
Also, does anyone else think that Mako chan is Kokoa san?
[/quote]
I didn’t because I forgot her already haha. But now that you mentioned it, you might be right!
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And definitely contributed to my general sense of confusion and overwhelm. I did follow the general grammar of the sentence (luckily), so I guess my primary point of confusion was actually to do with cultural literacy. Why is there a middle school reunion? Do Japanese adults keep going to reunions for all levels of school? Or was it someone else’s middle school reunion, in which case why would she be involved? (Because of the context I was expecting it to be a work event, but a kindergarten having a middle school reunion also didn’t make sense.)
Sorry! I think it was mostly a “me” problem, to be fair.
