「フリーター、家を買う」第2話

Onto the second episode of フリーター、家を買う! This time, the episode I watched had 字幕, subtitles in Japanese! Oh, what a gift!  It's really helpful when half the time people are mumbling and speaking in that fast, natural, careless way that we take for granted when speaking in our native languages. Anyway, this episode starts with a very awkward family breakfast. Seiji tells his father (Seiichi) that he's got a new part-time job, and that he'll be helping with living expenses when his paycheck comes in - he's also still looking for a full-time job, though, which is his  最優先. In the middle of his little speech Daddy Take gets up and leaves for work. Man.

 Seiji: I'm really trying to--

Dad: PEACE.

Seiji: D:

At work Seiji talks to the pretty girl who is stronger (Manami) than him about the job that they've been put on - the building of a new road. She tells him to tuck his pants into his boots and keep them that way.  She's the 安全管理 of the operation. Oh man, not everyone does construction work as a part-time job? Who knew?!

The road's completion date - the 納期 - is in two weeks, but they are hindered by a miscalculation in the 発注 of some necessary supplies. They have to leave work early  because work can't be continued until these supplies arrive. It's Manami's ミス; to make up for it, and for something to do, she mops the company floors. Seiji says her "I just want to do what I can do" attitude is nothing but self satisfaction. Meanwhile he talks to the boss about the abbreviated work schedule, wondering if he will get paid for the one hour he did work. His boss has no patience for him: 「金の心配するより　やることあんじゃないか？」, he asks.  He tells him Seiji hasn't even worked an entire day, and leaves him after a "tch!" and a 「この半人前が！」

After work Seiji receives a call from his sister Ayako, who asks about his job (has he quit yet?) and about their mother (who the audience knows isn't doing very well). She wonders why he got a job doing construction of all things, and guesses it must be because Seiji is tired of being told things like 「食い扶持も稼げない！」 by their father. But Ayako isn't doing very well either. She's the 院長婦人of a hospital, not liked by her staff and pressured by the PTA of her son's school, who surround her like a pack of wolves and are obviously quite the gossipy bunch. One asks if she can prescribe her some high-blood pressure medication; Ayako explains that she can't do so without an examination. PTA lady #2 and #3 speak up, pressuring her to do something about it. PTA lady #1pressures her even further, saying,「 院長婦人なのに、お高くとまっていないからいいわよね」. In the end Ayako agrees, but angers her hospital staff by forcing them to take one patient, who came late, over the others, which will cause complaints.

 PTA's choice take-down maneuver: first they surround the victim like a pack of wolves...

Geez, the people in this family just can't catch a break. When Seiji comes home his mother (Sumiko) is worse. She compulsively sorts through the trash, which was returned because it wasn't properly 分別するed; there is a glass bottle in what should be only burnable garbage. The fact that she hasn't done this task properly, and 'caused problems for everyone', has a visible effect on her mind. There is no dinner and nothing in the fridge, but before Seiji can go out to get something his father Seiichi comes home. He takes one look at his wife, sorting through garbage on the dining room floor, and turns to escape up the stairs. Seiji angrily follows him and confronts him, saying 「見なかったふりしてんじゃねえよ！」　Seiichi says it's nothing abnormal and Seiji quickly accuses him of running away from his problems and not helping Sumiko.

Seichii turns the argument around and blames Sumiko's depression on Seiji, saying if anyone is running away it's him. Nothing is solved and in the morning Sumiko is still obsessively nervous about putting the trash out properly sorted, and when Seiji tries to calm her he ends up becoming late for a work. As a result his boss tells him to go home - he's messed up the dynamics of the day, which because of the delay yesterday is going to be one of hard work. It isn't the 人手の数, but establishing a positive team dynamic that is 重要 . Manami tries to cover for him, but it's no use. Seichi is sent home. Manami tells him to come tomorrow, but he doesn't see the point: it's a tiring and dirty job, and it's only good point is the fact that it pays well. "If you keep working here you'll see that it's about more than just the money," she tells him, but he leaves after saying he'll return the uniform when he washes it.

Seiji returns to the employment agency and says he will relax his standards for employment ( 「この現状から抜け出したいんで・・・」). He doesn't want to go as far as lowering the salary he wants, but the man behind the desk tells him it's necessary. It isn't Seiji who decides what he's worth, it's the company; and Seiji, who has 転々とdone his various part-time jobs over the past year, isn't worth what he thinks he is to companies.

What a blow. And to make it all worse, when he comes home he sees the trash has been returned once again. His mother rocks at the dinner table, apologizing to nobody (or everybody?). When Seiji tells her she doesn't have to apologize to anybody, it only makes her more disturbed. Seiji doesn't return to work, instead searching for jobs on the computer. That night he tries to talk to his father about employment. He had been angry when his father initially offered to try and hook him up with some jobs, but he says he's open to it now. It was an 大それたthing to say that he didn't have to rely on his father's influence. Seiji puts himself in a vulnerable position, but his father has no mercy. 「俺の頭に泥を塗るってワケか」 he asks. With Seiji's spotty track record, there is no doubt in his head that Seiji will quit again and embarrass him. Seiichi accuses his son of having always been a quitter, from swimming lessons to English classes. Seiji doesn't think that has anything to do with the current circumstances, but to Seiichi it's an 大有り. In Seiichi's opinion Seiji is always saying (言い張る) that the problem is that no one properly values him. But he needs to stop blaming other people; stop relying on other people; and most of all, 「俺に恥をかかせるな！」　This obviously hurts Seiji, who says aloud, after his father has left:  「どうせ俺は恥ずかしい息子よ。」

 It kind of looks like he's going to give him a fatherly pat on the shoulder. 

He's not.

Feeling sorry for himself, he apologizes to his mother Sumiko for not being employed. She is ironing is uniform. "But aren't you working? Doing construction," she says. Thanks to her, he decides to return to work and put in a hard day. When it comes to quitting time and some work still needs to be done to stay on schedule, he volunteers along with everyone else to stay behind. He calls his father to remind him to give Sumiko her depression medication; but Seiichi seems put-upon and angry like always. We see him withdraw a ton of money and disappear down the street with an unknown woman...

Soundtrack: Womanizer womanizer oh you're a womanizer.

On top of this, and just to make sure you weren't feeling better now that Seiji is still employed,  we get a glimpse of Ayako's mother-in-law, who is every bit as pressuring as the PTA ladies. "It looks like things aren't going well with the hospital staff," she says. "As the director you really should be able to get along with both the hospital staff and the PTA. But you know, the hospital won't ever really accept you, so at least get on with the地域のmothers." Ayako looks surprised at this piece of information and her mother-in-law smiles very passively-aggressively. Apparently, Ayako's marriage to Fumiya, her husband, was a result of a 妊娠; as such,  she'll never be accepted by the long-time staff of the hospital where her husband works.

In case you didn't know, this is what a passive-aggressive smile looks like.

Meanwhile, work on the road continues. Seiji is impressed by the way everyone 全力を尽くしているs. Back at home family life is still awkward - but at least he's having meals with the family. However, it seems like things will get even tougher - because there is someone sabotaging his mother's sanity by planting glass bottles in the plastic recyclables she puts out: the neighboring housewife!

  Exhibit A. Damning evidence, I say.

Seiji doesn't know this, though. At work they just barely manage to finish (納期ぎりぎり) after working through the night when a storm forces them to abandon their work during the day, and he is moved by the sight of 'their' road, and by his fellow workers' pride in their accomplishment.

Even so, when Manami tells him she'll see him tomorrow, he insists that he won't be there - he's still looking for better work, you know.

Seiji: Because I'm still better than construction work!

Manami: (-.-)'

And now some definitions for you. Not all of them were used above:

• 最優先　
• first priority
• 作業前点検
•  inspection before beginning operations
• 怠る
• to be negligent, to shirk
• 安全管理 
• safety control
• めでたい 
• auspicious, happy
• 発注
• placement of an order
• 納期 
• delivery date
• 足引っ張る 
• to stretch one's legs
• 自己満　
• self satisfaction
• 「金の心配するより　やることあん（あるん）じゃないか。」 
• Don't you have anything better to do than worry about money?
• 半人前 
• half a man
• 食い扶持 
• board (as in room and board); food allowance; a living (食い扶持を稼ぐ）
• 院長婦人
• Director (female)
• 高血圧の薬　
• hypertension medicine
• 分別する
• separate (i.e. separate burnable garbage from recyclable garbage, etc)
• 「見なかったふりしてんじゃねえよ！」
• Don't pretend like you didn't see!
• 人手の数 
• The number of hands available
• 重要
• essential; important
• 「この現状から抜け出したいんで・・・」 
• I want to break out of this rut...
• 転々 
• moving around, here and there
• 大それた 
• appalling; outrageous
• 「俺の顔に泥を塗るってワケか。」 
• Are you trying to drag my name through the mud? Lit: Do you mean to smear mud on my face?
• 大有り 
• a big deal
• 言い張る 
• to insist; be obstinate in saying
• 「俺に恥をかかせるな！」 
• Don't shame/embarrass me!
• 「どうせ俺は恥ずかしい息子よ。」 
• I'm an embarrassment no matter what.
• 地域 
• neighborhood, area, region
• 妊娠 
• pregnancy
• 納期ぎりぎり 
• just barely delivered in time
• 「全力を尽くしている」 
• to exhaust all their strength

Hello Again

Well, hello. Setsubun came and passed and I realized I hadn't written in a very long time. I guess I could say 「まあ色々があって・・・」 but that isn't really true. Anyway, I will be writing again.

Starting now! So, shadowing is this activity whereby you make your Japanese sound more natural. I did it religiously for a little while, then I stopped. Why? Partly because I just wasn't watching anything interesting enough. I found my interest caught instead by Korean dramas. Then I felt guiltier than I usually do for watching television, because at least when it's Japanese I can say that I am studying. Feeling the urge to once again delve into some shadowing/listening comprehension, I gave myself over to watching one of the dramas that recently came out: フリーター、家を買う。Or in a very very very free translation, Mr. Can't Keep a Job Buys a House. (That's what I call it, anyway.) It broadcast in Fall 2010 to good ratings.

 Hm, this photograph is very ominously torn.

Also, I think the father is Streseman from Nodame Cantabile.

It has a Johnny's Boy in it, if you're interested in that kind of thing. Actually, it's Arashi's Ninomiya, who acted in Letters from Iwo Jima. 

 I often don't feel like I'm well-versed enough in Japanese to accurately gauge if someone is doing a good job of acting in that language. Here Ninomiya strikes me as a good actor, but that may just be because it seems very un-exaggerated and naturalistic. Except the one scene at the end of episode one where he's crying in the mud. And it's raining on him..
 

Now that I've told you the end of the episode, I'll give you the event that's going to kick the whole series off. Ninomiya plays Seiji, who begins by saying: 俺の人生、いつもそこそこだった。He is getting into society now with a そこそこのjob and thinking he'll live a そこそこのlife, and like most soon-to-be/recent college graduates he's just thinking "What is the point of it all?" We see him at a company retreat in the first scene. Being beaten with a shinai.

 The truth about "real life" jobs, college seniors. 

You get hit. With sticks. 

I was unsure if I had actually heard "Michael Jackson". 

Then this happened. 

If I was made to act like Michael Jackson and crawl like a turtle for the sake of employee solidarity or something, I guess I would think "What is this shit?" too. Well, enough is enough and Seiji abruptly quits his job, thinking he'll be able to get another one. His father is completely pissed by the idea but his mother is very sweet and supportive. Seiji doesn't plan to be jobless for long but all of his applications are sent back to him. He goes to an employment agency, trying to get the job he wants, but eventually he has to lower his standards and get into part-time jobs, quitting those in rapid succession.

 Boss: I'd like you to be nicer to the customers.

Seiji: I QUIT.

Boss: D:

His father gets increasingly angry, and though his mother doesn't show it she's experiencing a lot of stress as well. Seiji becomes a shut-in to escape his father's rants (才能のない, etc). He sleeps late into the day, plays video games, and eats all of his meals in his messy room. Worse, he starts turning on his mother, who tries her best to pull him out of his depression.

Eventually his mother does smack him out of his funk... by having a mental breakdown. Seiji is there when it happens, technically. But he's up in his room playing video games. Naturally his father, and his older sister (who came in a panic to the house after hearing 38 messages of her mother repetitively saying ごめんなさい、今日もすみませんでした) are upset with him. The doctor recommends that Seiji and his older sister (Ayako) who has a household of her own, do their best create a happy environment and to make sure she takes her meds; she is in a very depressed. The stress of having a rude husband and a rude son will do that to a person, you know?  Since Seiji lives at home, and his Dad always works (and besides is always angrrrryyyy), it follows that he will have the most responsibility for his mother. Realizing this, Seiji resolves to get a job and contribute to the household. He gets a job at a construction site where a pretty girl is stronger than him.

I'm assuming this job and this girl will prove essential to reshaping his character/world view, and serve as the main thread of the story. Overall it's pretty interesting, but it seems like it will be the "Find yourself and your place in the world" kind of story. But, here are some words and phrases that you can learn from watching it:

そこそこ  alright, so-so

X才能ない don't have the capacity/ability/brains to do X

フリーター someone who works odd part-time jobs

ふるい落とす to be selective; sift out; screen candidates

書店バイト part-time work at a bookstore

「のんびりにしている」 being careless, lazing around

そもそも in the first place, to begin with, from the beginning

なさけなX pitiful X

先決 priority

就職活動 job search

「時間の無駄」 a waste of time

「再スタートできる」 "you can make a new start"

Since there a bit of mumbling, etc, it may be hard to make out a lot of things. There were some words I wrote down which I have no idea about. Try your hand at watching a show without subtitles and speaking along with it. Even if you don't catch everything, you'll find some benefit if you're shadowing at the same time. I'll write a bit about shadowing another day; this entry has become long enough!