Week 5

June 5th – 9th, 2006
This week has been fair. Mostly I’ve been having computer problems which have prevented me from spending large amounts of time revising and translating. Since I use my own computer, it’s hard not to focus attention there when there’s a problem, because otherwise I’ll be spending the rest of my time here with a pencil and notebook, writing out English translations that take infinitely longer than they would if I spent a week fixing my firewall settings and cleaning viruses from the registry. Not to mention we’d miss our deadlines by leaps and bounds and all the work I do would have to be typed and revised several times before they could actually use them in a catalog. So there’s my justification in a nutshell. Hopefully, I’m not breaking anyone’s heart.
But, that was my week. It’s Friday at 5:00pm, I finally fixed things to a usable level, and I was still able to translate 30 and revise 20 pages. When I finish revision, I hope I won’t have to come back to these files again to update the translations. Up to this point, I’ve translated a little over a third of the 200 page catalog having two total weeks to do so, despite my computer problems. The translation and revising process takes ages. Otherwise, I present it to them and they “fix” it and give it back to me to revise, like they did with the first 25 pages I translated. Ridiculous!!!
I really wish I had something better to do than complain about work. I’m a bitter old man who doesn’t want to spend his time doing ridiculous tasks. I got paid this week, and that’s worth the 5 weeks of crap, just for the satisfaction of stickin’ it to the man; by paying tithing but not paying taxes. All right!!! Plus, a baby is about to be born with my name on it. What else really matters?

Hurray for June!

I am continuing to learn a lot about translating and how things work. I am basically finished with the translation that I have been working on. I just need to polish it off and I will be done. My boss and I tried various programs to try and set up the WIKI that he wanted to make for our company but nothing seemed to work out for us. So that project is kind of suspended for a while. I am going to be in Shiga translating for 3 days. That will start next week on Friday and then the following Monday and Tuesday. That will be interesting. I really need to start going over the materials that will be discussed. I can do that after I finish what I am working on right now.
I have been going sightseeing almost every Saturday with one of the members here. It is pretty nice because he knows where all of the cool stuff is. I have pretty much adjusted to life here I think. I am trying to think if I would want to work here again but I think it would be just as different to live here with a family as it is to be here not being a missionary. I don’t know if I will come to a conclusion on that one for a while but oh well. I am not looking forward to the weather getting hotter. But there isn’t much I can do about that.
I hope that everybody else is having fun and enjoying their summer.

Week 4

May 30 – June 2, 2006 First week of Work
This week has been infinitely more interesting and helpful in my efforts to be better in Japanese. I have been translating and revising translations of their catalogs. It takes a while to look up all the words I don’t know on the internet, since I have to wait until I get paid next week to buy an electronic dictionary, but I feel better about my ability to translate complicated Japanese sentences into clear and concise phrases; especially when I look at the kinds of sentences a Japanese mind comes up with in English. For the success of their business, I’m glad they try to at least run things by a Native speaker. Some of the things they come up with could rival the funniest on Engrish.com. I’ve been making a vocabulary list. If any of you want it I can make it available, though it might be easier to just use a dictionary. Translating words like Transverse Elastic Modulus, or Nitrohydrochloric Acid, or (Pozidriv, Frearson, or Phillips) Crossed Recess Pan Head Machine Screw has been some of my favorite memories of working here. Though it may not bring a tear to your eyes, the pure joy of freedom from sweatshops makes me appreciate the smaller joys of white collar tasks. Mono no aware means a little more to me than it ever has. (Though, I wear short sleeve shirts so my wrists are drenched.)
I was also able to expand my working base this week by translating technical/legal documents which specify the type of relationship our company has with another company. It took most of the week, but it was pretty cool. The other thing I was able to do was get my foot into their English advertising department by volunteering myself to help name a product line for Flat Panel Displays. It’s been a hectic week, and I feel myself falling behind in translating the catalogs, which is supposed to be my first priority.
I skipped Church this week for something I may never get to do again in my lifetime. I hope I don’t get kicked out of BYU for it. I went to Ise to help in the rebuilding festival for the Shinto Inner Shrine, called the Shikinen Sengu. Those of you, who know of what I speak, know that it only happens once in 20 years. Which is only partly true; it takes 7 years to build and this year and the next are the only ones that involve the general public until it’s finished. At least that’s what they told me. A friend from work invited me out of the blue to go to his home town in Ise to help. His family is one of the biggest supporters for the continuation of this tradition. So, I got to see a ton. I also got to share a ton of gospel principles especially with my friend. So, for those of you who may be thinking it was a waste of time…Hey, at least I got to share a bit o’ gospel with them, including basic beliefs about God and Christ. Anyway, like I said, this week was infinitely better than the last three. Next week should be sweet, Payday at last.