JETAA NY Newsletter: JET Alumni 2008 Election Survey
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Welcome to the second-ever JET Alumni Election Survey! Forty-five people from around the U.S. and representing over 30 prefectures responded to “vote” and share their thoughts.
The survey was conducted anonymously using SurveyMonkey, all responses were received between 9/10 and 10/6 (i.e., before the economy started imploding) and an effort was made to make the survey available to as many chapters as possible. In other words, it’s completely un-scientific. That said, it’s still fun to do, so see the results below.
VOTE TOTALS
- McCain – 3
- Obama – 37
- Ron Paul – 1
- Undecided – 4
COMMENTS
Ron Paul
***Ron Paul…real change. My experiences in Japan have provided me with a much different perspective since “return,” made me more receptive to initially intimidating political and economic ideas. I left the American Matrix for a while, and now there is no falling back to sleep.
Undecided
***I’m torn on the issue. At this point I could see myself voting for either party. Originally I planned on voting for Obama, but recently I do not like how his camp has been handling the issue of McCain choosing Palin as VP. I really could see the Republicans winning again. Since I live in California the state will go Democrat, so either way I guess it doesn’t matter all that much. Read More
Job: Translator – Patent Business – Tokyo-to, Tama-shi
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Translator Wanted (in Patent Business) (Tamasi)
Reply to: job-917144987@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-11-13, 6:18PM JT
Memoirs of Japan – A new blog by Simon Gouldman (Niigata-ken, 1998-2000)
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JetWit is pleased to introduce a new blog just started by Simon Gouldman (Niigata-ken, Nagaoka-shi, 1998-2000) entitled Memoirs of Japan: The Story of a Young British Teacher Living in Japan. See a short excerpt below. To see more, go to memoirsofjapan.com, or grab the RSS feed.
Ten years have now passed since I first landed in Narita airport. I’ll never forget the strange smells, sounds and sights that confronted me on that Shinkansen (bullet train) journey to my new home. Although Japan is a world away from my life now it will always remain in my heart. Some memories are distant and some have faded, yet when I cast my mind back to that time it is as clear as the rising sun.
Translators Challenge – Fall 2008 “Politics” Issue (JETAA NY Newsletter)
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Welcome to the second-ever JETAA NY Quarterly Translators Challenge, from the Fall 2008 “Politics” issue.
We once again invited JET alums and Friends of JET (i.e., anyone who wants) to take their best shot at translating a selected text. Why? Well, mostly to entertain, but also to give the greater JET alum community a chance to show their stuff as well as give the rest of us a fun way to study up on our nihongo.
The selected text for this edition of the Translators Challenge is an excerpt from “Political Science,” the satirical 1972 song by Randy Newman.
Prize: $25 gift certificate to BOOK OFF, the discount Japanese boookstore on 41st St. between Madison & 5th Aves.
Asia’s crowded and Europe’s too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada’s too cold
And South America stole our name
Let’s drop the big one
There’ll be no one left to blame us
We’ll save Australia
Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo
We’ll build an all-American
amusement park there
They got surfin’, too
Click here to see/hear “Political Science” on YouTube.
********************
THE WINNER!
Mia Simring
(CIR Aichi-ken, 2004-06)
Omedetou gozaimashita on
her second straight win!
********************
アジア込みすぎ、
ヨーロッパダサすぎ
アフリカなんて暑くて
カナダ － 寒すぎ
南アメリカ － 我が名を盗んだ
世界をぶっ潰そう
反対する人間を消しちまおう
カンガルー可愛いから
オーストラリアだけ助けよう
アメリカン遊園地
そこで作るぞ！
Ajia komisugi,
Yoroppa dasasugi
Afurika nante atsukute
Kanada – samusugi
Minami Amerika – wa ga na wo nusunda
Sekai wo buttsubusou
Hantai suru ningen wo keshichimaou
Kangaru – kawaii kara
Osutoraria dake tasukeyou
Amerikan yuenchi
Soko de tsukuru zo!
********************
COMMENTARY
Special thanks to professional translator Jamie Graves (Shizuoka-ken, 2002-03) for providing some commentary and insight.
Mia clearly put a lot of thought into changing the distinctly American rhythms and humor of a folk song into Japanese.
I was impressed at how Mia managed to avoid direct translation, instead finding uniquely Japanese ways of expressing the value judgements in the song. Instead of directly saying “old” in the line “Europe’s too old” she used ダサイ(dasai, “not with it, uncool”), which conveys the contempt a lot better.
She was also very good on keeping the translated text rhythmic and simple, replacing a potentially messy translation of “Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo” with “カンガルー可愛いから” (kangaroo kawaii kara), which manages to keep the humor and simplicity of the original. She even managed to rhyme the last verse!
Editorial Pursuits #1 – Getting LinkedIn to Your Professional Profile on JetWit
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Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She is seeking an internship or entry level position in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits will chronicle her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned.
As a recent transplant to New York City from little ol’ Wisconsin, I’ve had a lot of new experiences thrown at me over the past two months.
I’ve learned to not take it personally when I smile at someone on the sidewalk and they give me a scowl; I’ve learned the exact speed to swipe the MetroCard so you don’t get bumped from behind when you have to re-swipe; I’ve learned that yes, New York pizza is super greasy but oh-so-alluring.
I’ve also learned that job searching in a city of millions of people is not a piece of cake and so, on the advice of a fellow JETAANY member, I decided to try my hand at creating a LinkedIn profile that I could link to in my JetWit Professional Profile.
I’m still getting comfortable with establishing an online presence for myself, but, to my pleasant surprise, Read More
JetWit on Facebook
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You can now join the JetWit.com group on Facebook! Just login to Facebook and search for “jetwit.”
It turns out there’s Beppu Hot Springs Master in the JET alumni community. Meet translator/interpreter Joel Dechant, currently a resident of Fukuoka but soon moving to Seattle, WA. Never heard of a Hot Springs Master? Watch this video of him from Japanese TV. (See all 4 clips with explanation on JapanProbe.com.)
Internet Explorer and the JetWit Sidebar
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If you’re looking at this site using Internet Explorer as your browser (as opposed to Mozilla Firefox, Safari or Chrome), then you most likely can’t see the interesting and helpful items along the sidebar. Not sure why this is happening but hopefully we’ll figure it out at some point.
To see the sidebar items you can
1) click on any post (such as this one),
2) scroll all the way down to the bottom of this homepage where the sidebars have been pushed for fushigi na reasons, or
3) Use a different browser to view JetWit.com. (Firefox, Safari and Chrome are much better browsers than anything created by Microsoft , in terms of speed, security and functionality. So a good long term move as well to download a new browser if you can.)
JETAA Chapter Beat – 11.11.08
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What’s going on in other JET Alumni chapters?
Korean BBQ & Karaoke Night – November 15- Happy Hour Tonight – Monday, Nov 10; 6 p.m. Ireland’s Four Courts, 2051 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22201 (703) 525-3600
- JETAA DC Rally (i.e., a big annual scavenger hunt) – This past Sat, Nov 8 on the Mall (Someone from DC want to send in an update on how it went?)
JETAA Chapter 9 – Texoma – New Officers
President – Barbara (Chieko) Rothengass
Vice-President – Shaun Scott
Treasurer – Nicolas (NicK) Cristinziani [interim] & Yi Tan [advisory/counsel]
Secretary – Dennis Li
Chair, Dallas-Fort Worth Subchapter – Angela Beard
JETAA Canberra (Australia)
- Cherry Picking Field Trip – November 30
- Bonenkai – December 12
JETAA UK
- Speed Dating @ Lounge Bar Holborn, Wed, Nov 12, from 7pm for a 7.30pm start.
- Happy hour at Wann Izakaya, Friday, Nov 7
- Career Forum & Welcome Back Reception, Wed, Nov 12, 7-9pm
- J-Kaiwa, Friday, Nov 7
- Invited to be part of Bank of America Chicago Marathon International Mile, Sunday, Oct 12
New Bankruptcy Bill Cartoon
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Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) has posted a new Bankruptcy Bill cartoon at bankruptcybill.wordpress.com.
If you’re looking at this site using Internet Explorer as your browser (as opposed to Mozilla Firefox, Safari or Chrome), then you most likely can’t see the interesting and helpful items along the sidebar. Not sure why this is happening but hopefully we’ll have it fixed soon.
To see the sidebar items you can
1) click on any post (such as this one),
2) scroll all the way down to the bottom of this homepage, or
3) Use a different browser to view JetWit.com. (Firefox, Safari and Chrome are much better browsers than anything created by Microsoft , in terms of speed, security and functionality. So a good long term move as well to download a new browser if you can.)
La-la-la-la-la O-ba-ma & Japanese Songwriting
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Obama-shi, Japan is so happy about the US election, they’ve come up with a song and video about it. Meanwhile, have you ever written a song in Japanese (or partly in Japanese)? Let me know and I’ll post it, or perhaps we can collaborate with other JET alums to come up with a tune and/or record it. Just email me at stevenwaseda at-mark jetwit dotto com.
The 44th President of the United States – Barack Obama
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Job: Translator for Anime Festival
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Just saw this on the JETAA DC email list:
We (Japan America Society of Washington, DC) just received a request from Katsucon (one of the organizers of a large Anime Conventions) looking for two Japanese translators during their convention. Read More
Japan’s Newspapers
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Interesting article from the Washington Post by Blaine Harden (with contributions from Akiko Yamato) on the newspaper business in Japan, for anyone interested or working in journalism in Japan. The gist of it is that while the newspaper business has been undermined by the internet, it’s been supported by the large number of older folks who all prefer newspapers to the internet and therefore there aren’t that many young readers to lose.
