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不注意なお買い物
研修生として来日して数週間、あまり日本語が分からず、日本の食材にもうとかったナガムラさんは、いつも夕食の準備に苦労していました。
ある日、大根でサラダを作って食べましたが、それだけでは物足りず、勉強するうちにおなかがすいてきます。
Caveat emptor
I had been in Japan only a few weeks, starting a yearlong fellowship far from home. I had a tiny apartment in a close-knit neighborhood, and was settling in nicely. There was only one difficulty: I had trouble getting dinner.
Often I came back from work just as restaurants were closing.My fellowship stipend made eating out at night a pricey luxury anyway. Noodles and onigiri? I ate those for lunch. I shopped on weekends, but local grocery store items were unfamiliar, and I couldn't read the packaging to find out how to prepare them. So I ended up living on the basics — butter, bread, fruit, eggs.
One evening, I boldly threw together a dinner salad with my very first daikon. I chopped up one-fifth of the giant radish, and hacked up the remainder to fit the Tetris game of my tiny refrigerator. I mixed the daikon with lettuce and a packet of chrysanthemum flowers my friend told me were edible. The Chinese poet Qu Yuan writes that one should only eat the "chrysanthemum's falling petals," and he's right, because the rest tastes like potpourri.
That night after dinner, I worked on a report. Around 10, I became distracted by my own growling stomach. I was still hungry. I recalled seeing a vending machine just around the corner of my apartment. I could sneak down, grab a snack from the vending machine, and zip back up to work.
Grabbing my change, I ventured out to streets fairly crowded with my neighbors returning home from work or just socializing. I went up to the vending machine, and tried to determine which treat would be most satisfying. The only package I could read, Rich Black, looked like a small bar of dark chocolate. I bought one, but when the machine dispensed it, I was amazed at the measly portion. I knew tiny servings of food were the norm in Japan — a healthy tendency — so I shrugged, and proceeded to buy half a dozen more.
Neighbors passed by, staring over their backs at me. One or two gave me scornful looks, and a few even laughed. Yeah, yeah, I thought, laugh if you want, but I love chocolate. To a few passersby, I flung out one of my few fail-safe Japanese phrases: "Suki desu yo!"
Back at my place, I lined up my stash, opened the first box, and found individually wrapped pieces inside. Ripping into one, I found to my horror that it wasn't chocolate. Not even close. I'd just made myself a special reputation in my neighborhood by buying a massive pile of condoms.
I became a motivated student of Japanese language from that evening on.
- Caveat emptor
- 買ってから後悔せぬようご注意を(ラテン語)
- yearlong fellowship
- 1年間の研修
- close-knit
- 近所付き合いが密な
- was settling in nicely
- 住み慣れてきた
- stipend
- 奨学金
- pricey luxury
- ぜいたく
- grocery store
- 食料品店
- ended up 〜
- 結局〜した
- threw together a dinner salad with my very first daikon
- 初めて買った大根とあり合わせのもので夕食にサラダを作った
- hacked up the remainder
- 残りをたたき切った
- fit the Tetris game of 〜
- テトリスのブロックのように〜にぴったり収まるように
- chrysanthemum flowers
- 菊の花
- edible
- 食用の
- Qu Yuan
- 中国の戦国時代の詩人、屈原
- falling petals
- 散った花びら
- potpourri
- ポプリ
- distracted
- 気が散って
- growling stomach
- グーグー鳴るおなか
- vending machine
- 自動販売機
- sneak down, grab a snack
- 抜け出してさっとおやつを買ってくる
- zip back up to work
- すぐに作業に戻る
- change
- 小銭
- ventured out to streets
- 通りに出ていった
- socializing
- (酒を飲むなどの)付き合い
- treat
- おやつ
- bar of dark chocolate
- 一箱のダーク・チョコレート
- dispensed
- 出した
- was amazed at 〜
- 〜に驚いた
- measly portion
- 量の少なさ
- norm
- 標準
- shrugged
- 肩をすくめた
- proceeded to 〜
- 続けて〜した
- staring over their backs at 〜
- 肩越しに〜をじろじろ見て
- scornful looks
- 冷ややかな目つき
- flung out
- 言い放った
- fail-safe
- 自信をもって使える
- stash
- 買い込んできたもの
- Ripping into one
- パッケージを一つ破いて
- to my horror
- 恐ろしいことに
- Not even close.
- それとは程遠いものだ