Saturday, July 30, 2005
rezu

mood: x_x つかれた。。。
listening to: one guess, I shall give. (yoda moment)

Um...WOW. This has been a really long weekend. Wait. It's not even over yet. Holy CORAPON. OK, I guess I'll start from Thursday night.

Rei, Host Madre and I gathered around the table for a pre-departure sashimi dinner. Tru Calling (volume 3) was playing since Rei hadn't watched it yet. Anyways, in this one episode there is a storyline in which we find out that these two girls are lesbians. Anyways, of course Host Madre asks me all of these questions about America and gays and lesbians. (she had already seen these eps, but I guess she wanted to hear my take on it). It went kind of like this (it was all mainly in English, FYI):

TV: *two girls kissing in the forest*
Me: *anticipating and bracing for Host Madre's imminent comment*
Host Madre: OK.
Me: *basking in my l33t clairvoyance skillz*
Host: I have a question.
Me: Yes?
Host Madre: In English, gay is between a man and a man?
Me: yeah, but it can be used for women too.
Host Madre: then what is "rezu?"
Me: *blink blink* "rezu?" You mean "lesbian?" ("rezu" is japanese for lesbian, I educationally assumed)
Host Madre: Yes, lesbian. What is that?
Me: Between a girl and a girl.
Host Madre: Oh, so not a man and a man?
Me: No.
Host Madre: so gay is a man and a man and rezu is between a girl and a girl?
Me: yeah (in my head: "rezu, lesbian, close enough"), but gay can be both.
Host Madre: oh I see.

TV: *girls are discovered by one girl's "boyfriend" who didn't know she was lesbian, and by Tru*
Boyfriend: *pissed off and leaves*
Girl with Boyfriend: (to girlfriend) Remember what we said we'd do if people found out?
Other Girl: I dunno, I've lived here my whole life...
Girl with Boyfriend: *disheartened* So-and-so, it won't work here. We don't work here. We have to leave this place.
Other Girl: ...OK.

Host Madre: Where are they going?
Me: I dunno, somewhere else?
Host Madre: Another state? Isn't it only allowed in some states?
Me: (in my head) OH BOY. Um...no. *wonders how to explain to Japanese people* (Out loud) UM...no. You can be gay anywhere you want, you just can't get married in many states. Only one or two states allow it. (I couldn't remember exactly...I think Massachusettes, and maybe California, but that may have been repealed or what not. Feel free to correct me Nups).
Host Madre: So you can only be gay in one or two states?
Me: NO...you can be gay ANYWHERE! *spreads hands around* but you can't get married in most places.
Host Madre: OK, I see.

*pause*

Host Madre: are there any rezu in your school?
Me: *caught slightly off guard* Um, yeah, of course!
Host Madre: NO WAY REALLY??? (in Japanese; she seemed very surprised)
Me: yeah, there are gay people and bi people in my school. (she probably didn't get the whole bi part but whatever. she pretended to understand I guess).
Host Madre: I don't believe it! (in Japanese)
Me: *tries to grasp what the Japanese think of gay people but fails miserably*
Host Madre: In Rei's school, there are rezu also. *looks to Rei for confirmation*
Rei: Yeah. (in Japanese) Kimochi warui. (It's a phrase that doesn't really translate to normal English. Literally it means "bad feeling" [like for when you don't feel well] but I'm guessing by the situation that it means like "yeah, it makes me really uncomfortable" or "yeah, I don't really like it.")
Me: *grasps what Japanese think of gay people, or at least a little*
Host Madre: Rei likes boys. (in Japanese)
Me: (in my head) Thanks for clarifying that, Host Madre.
Host Madre: You like boys, right? (in Japanese)
Me: *caught REALLY off guard. Obviously she doesn't understand that you don't just ask someone like that if they are gay or lesbian* Yeah.

Now obviously that was the simple answer. To tell the honest truth, I do not know. I have never had a significant other of any gender, so to say I'm straight isn't really the truth. But as to not alarm my host family (who would probably then mention it to my mother), I just said yes. LOL.

And then it was over. But the whole "you like boys, right?" comment reminded me of another thing that often bothers me about Japanese poeple. It's the whole fat vs. thin thing. They obviously don't understand that in America you don't really call people fat to their face. But she is always saying how I am thing and Rei is fat. It's really uncomfortable for me, and I think even for Rei, too. To tell the truth, Rei could stand to loose a couple of pounds, but she really isn't that bad. I think she's pretty, actually. Anyways, I just had to get that out.

MORE TO COME...