日本語 勉強 - かてない！

I'd like to share little bits of Japanese language I learn along the way. I feel it helps to solidify my grasp of it, and helps me to remember as well.

Makiko and I had a good discussion tonight. We bounce back and fourth with questions of how you say this in English, or how you say that in Japanese. We both gain a lot from teaching eachother.

She saw Harry potter last night, and I asked her how it was. Her response was something along the lines of "The movie based on the book didn't win" It took a moment for me to figure out what she was trying to say. It was the direct translation of ：

"本をベースにした映画は本にかてない。”　
"hon wo beesu ni shita eiga wa hon ni katenai."
which is basically：
"the movie based on the book can not win against the book"

so, I taught her "The movie didn't/couldn't compare to the book" or "the movie wasn't as good as the book" etc etc. There are so so many ways to say the same thing in English. I'm often surprised at how simply concepts can be conveyed in a Japanese sentence. It's usually very direct. English is so complicated, I'm so grateful that I'm not studying English as a second language. むりそう！　 seems impossible. (? i never know if i say things correctly when i make things up..)

anyway, the lesson I learned here is a natural way to say "doesn't compare/ isn't as good as" I suppose you could say "~~no hou ga ii" ... or ~~ yori etc... but anyway, to break down what I learned:

かつ　- to win
katsu

(まける　- to lose)
makeru

〜〜は　〜〜に　かてない。
えいがは　本に　かてない。
eiga wa hon ni katenai.
the movie wasn't as good as the book (literally- the movie lost to the book)

(i think here we have the lovely "は” for use in a negative sentence. i mention this simple point because i'm still trying to get used to it)

I love this example of the different ways english and Japanese approach the same concept. I feel i hear "katsu" and "makeru" often. I know I've heard "makenai!" (i won't lose!) before. Thinking in terms of "winning" and "losing" seems to be common/important to the culture.


This reminds me, I'd like to teach Makiko "~~didn't live up to~~"
"the movie didn't live up to the book" "the movie didn't live up to the hype"

oBento!

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Chocolat ~~~

Last night was a magical adventure into my fantasies. Specifically the all you can eat chocolate buffet fantasy :)

I went with a group of my girl friends to the Duxton for their "Choc Shock" event. We had been joking before hand about how monstrous we seemed, a gang of chocolate hungry girls on a mission.. but when we arrived, the Maitre D guy said he had put us down as a table of 2, even though i made a phonecall and spoke with the manager specifically because i needed to seat a large group of 8!! He gave us some trouble, and i felt like tearing his head off. how dare he stand in the way of stuffing our faces with chocolate?!?!? It was mostly annoying because I just expected him to be more courteous and apologetic, and stop making it such a hassle, because in the end it wasn't at all. I firmly believe in "the customer is always right" mind set, as long as the customer isnt being a douchebag about it... but hey, they don't work for tips here.

ANYWAY, about the chocolate...

There was a beautiful and perfect little buffet set up. it really did remind me of the movie "chocolat", which i wish we all watched before coming out to the buffet. We were even served a hot cocoa drink with chille in it, like the movie! We were all very excited, and everyone came ready with their cameras, so instead of capturing candid moments of wonderment, we all got pictures of eachother taking pictures of eachother taking pictures of the chocolate. Yes. exactly like that. Anyhow, the chocolate treats were delicious. I didn't even manage to try them all. and what a shame, i couldn't even finish my plate at the end of my first round. We did order fries though, it helped to balance out all the sugar overload.

One of the desserts (a mini black forest cake, i believe) had this tiny merangue mushroom atop it. It was so adorable i had to take pictures of it. Also it was the last thing I ate that pushed me over into having a sugar headache.

Sil Van Der Woerd - White Swan

Moragot shared this really cool video with me, by Sil Van Der Woerd. I like his vision, gritty and pretty. The video goes well with this haunting song. I love it when music videos take advantage of the medium and make pieces of art. Click the image to check out the video at his website.

NZ Film Fest - Moon

Saw Moon last night. We had all been quite excited to see this one, and it was definitely a good film. I enjoyed it, but I dont want to comment anymore than that. Just go see it for yourself, if you're into the idea of a space drama. And try to avoid the trailer, it's better going in not knowing what to expect, in my opinion.

NZ Film fest - Ponyo and Thirst

I had a fun and very full weekend. Spending so much time out is sort of new for me, usually I am out only once or twice a week. But now that I am alone at home, I decided I must keep occupied, for my sanity, and I booked up my schedule, with something going on each night. The New Zealand Film Festival is helping a great deal, with a movie I'm excited about showing every other night this week.

Before all that though, on Saturday I went out with friends to see Slava's Snowshow. It is a clown performance from Russia, that I had heard was wonderful. It was indeed, especially the audience interaction parts. At some points, I wasn't sure what exactly everyone was clapping about.....but.. yeah I'm glad I went. Afterwards we all got Kaffe Eis, stracciatella in a cone, yum! Then we came back to my place to watch Old Boy, in preparation for Sunday's screening of Park Chan Wook's "Thirst". Damn what a good movie that is. I'm so so so glad that the idea of a Western Remake, with Will Smith, and (fucking) tacos instead of dumplings. How horrible would that have been?!!?!?!?!?


Sunday I had 2 screenings. We saw Ponyo early in the afternoon. I had already seen it a couple times from download....... But seeing it in the theater made a big difference, with the full quality and more correct translations. This time I was incredibly touched, and teared up with joy and awe of cuteness throughout the whole thing. It was cool too to hear the whole audience laugh at sweet moments that I hadn't thought to laugh at while watching by myself at home. We all left the theater beaming, hearts warmed and full of happiness!


And, on top of that, the SUN was shining brightly! Which is rare for Wellington's winter. We went on a mission to buy sunglasses. I ended up buying an expensive sweater................ But, i did get 2 pairs of fun sunglasses for 5 bucks each :) I'll look at it which ever way i need to justify it to myself... We came back to my place again, Lindsay and I did our nalies like girlies, and Derrick and Jance played Wii, although we all desperately needed a nap. Dinner at Lone Star with "semi" mexican quesadillas. And on to Thirst. What do I say about Thirst? It was............ strange, cool, gorey, crazy... I walked out of the theater not even knowing how I felt about it. To my right, Jalil loved it and thought it was awesome. To my left, Flo and Christine hated it and nearly walked out before it was over. I must be somewhere in the middle. I think I want to like it, and see merit in its potential greatness. There were really badass moments and interesting characters...... But this might be one of those that I need to watch a 2nd time to allow it to sink in and process correctly. You'll have to see it for yourself.


It was a lovely weekend and now i need to rest.

The Current Jam

Animal Colective- Daily Routine (Phase One Remix)
This song is helping me escape this morning. Thanks to Alex at www.leftasrain.com for sharing this one. Hope to keep hearing more like this.