Will's Diary Dictionary

When living in Japan certain Japanese words tend to slip into your everyday English. For example...

CIR
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Coordinator of International Relations. The 'other' type of JET (OK, OK there are SEAs too). CIRs need a requisite level of Japanese, and most of them have it. They do everything from translation, interpreting, editing English language publications, coordinating exchanges to teaching at elementary schools. Drawn from a greater pool of countries than ALTs - about 40 at last count.

Denny's
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Chain restaurant. Open 24 hours. Refill coffee. At 330yen the pancakes are good value. Breakfast set is half decent too. A bit strict with powerpoint usage. Don't forget to get your parking ticket validated. Spawned the slang verb "deniru" - to eat at Denny's.

Doutor
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Doutor is a chain of coffee shops where the coffee is only 210 yen instead of a more usual 350-500yen. How do they do it? There is no table service, nor do you get a facial washcloth and glass of ice water. The best part - the coffee is real espresso, not the weak drip imitation. Very polite staff using honorific language . Very clean. Great toilets. Downside - no refills. If you want refills go to Denny's or Mr D, but if you want a real cup of coffee go to Doutor.

JET
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The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme. The worlds largest international exchange programme. Sponsored by the Japanese government it was begun in 1997 and its participants now number approximately 6000. Drawn from over 50 countries, "JETs" as they are affectionately known, comprise 3 types: ALT (assistant language teachers), CIR (Co-ordinator of international relations), and SEA (Sports Exchange advisor). Whilst the majority of JETs are ALTs and carry out language tuition in public schools, the broadly stated objective of the programme is "grass roots level internationalisation".

Kogyaru
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'kogyaru' refers to a Japanese girl subculture whose members wear platform shoes so tall that locomotion is impaired. They are also fond of lots of makeup, tiny cut off jeans shorts, a proprietary slang and tanned skin

ramen
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thin noodles in broth. Originally from China (where it is called 'lamien'). Three main types - 'shoyu', 'miso' and 'tonkotsu'. Ramen shops are usually open all manner of hours, and come 3am, after a big night out, ramen often serves as the Japanese equivalent of a kebab.

Yoshinoya
- a chain of 24hr restaurants specialising in gyudon - strips of (fatty) meat on rice. Cheap. Everywhere.

Will

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Opinions expressed in this diary are personal views of Will Jasprizza. They do not necessarily represent those of Genki English, especially where he is slagging people off or making jokes which sounded better at the time!!! Please be understanding!

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