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Whisper me sweet nothings JAPANESE ONLY TIME
ceres
When the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
When the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
I recently graduated with a degree (and some good lab experience) in cell and molecular biology (yay) and am now looking for a job. I've posted my resume a couple places, applied for some jobs, you know. I'm two weeks out, so I'm giving myself a little time before I hit the sites really hard; right now I'm skimming for jobs I REALLY want to do.
This morning a guy with terrible, terrible English called me up, asked me if I was willing to commute anywhere, unwilling to tell me where to. He asked me what my ideal job was, to which I responded "research or clinical lab work". He said "oh, I see." He then demanded that I have a conversation with him in Japanese. He didn't even tell me what company he worked for.
Of course I failed at this miserably. While I'm still pretty conversational, I can barely complete an ENGLISH sentence first thing in the morning. He then said "this was your major, right?" FUCK YOU, GUY. It was my major six years ago; my resume, which you obviously haven't read, says that pretty clearly. And schedule an interview, don't call me at ass o'clock in the morning demanding I speak with you in a language I JUST SAID I'd need to brush up on after explaining the situation.
Anyway, the whole thing left me pretty pissed off at him and whatever the hell company he works for and Corporate America and everything else you can be angry at while you're trying to figure out what the hell just happened, but it also left me very annoyed with myself for blanking on pretty simple vocabulary, no matter how early in the morning it is and even though I probably really didn't want whatever job he would have offered me.
I need a conversation partner. I have no money. My husband suggested I take some weak-ass Japanese class at the school I just graduated from and talk to the teacher. Other benefits come with that, but it's going to be pretty difficult if I ever manage to get a job, because language classes are usually in the morning. Does anyone know of anywhere I can go, maybe online or something, where people are willing to just talk in foreign languages? Not type, I mean converse vocally.
Like it or not, Japanese is a big part of my previous education, and something to have on my resume that makes me stand out a little. I can't just take it off or pretend it's not there; and if it's there people are going to call me on it. Granted, I expected that sort of thing to come up during a scheduled interview, but still. I really do love the language, and even when I'm half-asleep I want to be able to keep up when taken off-guard.
This morning a guy with terrible, terrible English called me up, asked me if I was willing to commute anywhere, unwilling to tell me where to. He asked me what my ideal job was, to which I responded "research or clinical lab work". He said "oh, I see." He then demanded that I have a conversation with him in Japanese. He didn't even tell me what company he worked for.
Of course I failed at this miserably. While I'm still pretty conversational, I can barely complete an ENGLISH sentence first thing in the morning. He then said "this was your major, right?" FUCK YOU, GUY. It was my major six years ago; my resume, which you obviously haven't read, says that pretty clearly. And schedule an interview, don't call me at ass o'clock in the morning demanding I speak with you in a language I JUST SAID I'd need to brush up on after explaining the situation.
Anyway, the whole thing left me pretty pissed off at him and whatever the hell company he works for and Corporate America and everything else you can be angry at while you're trying to figure out what the hell just happened, but it also left me very annoyed with myself for blanking on pretty simple vocabulary, no matter how early in the morning it is and even though I probably really didn't want whatever job he would have offered me.
I need a conversation partner. I have no money. My husband suggested I take some weak-ass Japanese class at the school I just graduated from and talk to the teacher. Other benefits come with that, but it's going to be pretty difficult if I ever manage to get a job, because language classes are usually in the morning. Does anyone know of anywhere I can go, maybe online or something, where people are willing to just talk in foreign languages? Not type, I mean converse vocally.
Like it or not, Japanese is a big part of my previous education, and something to have on my resume that makes me stand out a little. I can't just take it off or pretend it's not there; and if it's there people are going to call me on it. Granted, I expected that sort of thing to come up during a scheduled interview, but still. I really do love the language, and even when I'm half-asleep I want to be able to keep up when taken off-guard.
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
ceres on
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I actually looked and there is one! I wouldn't say it's perfectly local, but it doesn't look like it meets that often either, so maybe it's doable!
Any other suggestions out there?
TylerJ on League of Legends (it's free and fun!)
I mean, if you woke-up a math major early in the morning and demanded that they solve a complex equation right then and there, without caffeine or a moment to go through whatever their morning routine is, of course most of them wouldn't be able to - even if they'd just earned a PhD in astrophysics yesterday.
I don't think it's very reasonable to decide that because you couldn't engage in a second language at a conversational level with a stranger over the phone after you just woke up that you need to brush-up on your skills.
My international business callers often use services that make the caller look local, when they are definitely calling from Asia. Don't know what they are, but I'm thinking VOIP stuff.
Just from reading those first two paragraphs, this person sounds pretty shady, probably some sort of cold-calling headhunter. If your first instinct was to hang up on him, your instinct was correct.
This is a fair point. I tend to be pretty hard on myself, and while I know intellectually that it's not true, I tend to feel like everyone else was born with the manual and I will always be on the wrong page struggling to keep up. That's an awful lot of work though, and usually I'd really rather play a game or something, but dammit, I devoted six years of my life to this. Just because I'm doing something else now doesn't mean someone can just come along and doubt my whole experience.
Yeah, so this is mostly a case of being ashamed of myself for letting it go so much and being insulted by the nerve that guy had.
I'm probably going to try to audit a class this fall. I'm also going to try this "language exchange" meetup and see if I like it; apparently it's a weekly thing, and I could really stand to get out of the house and be more social anyway, at least until I get a job. I checked and there are as many Japanese speakers as English speakers, and who knows what may come of it. If anyone here is rusty and wants to give it a go or is willing to help out by talking to me a bit, PM me.
Thinking about this has also inspired me to make sure I help my now-former lab adviser keep his fish fed over the summer because hey, he might need me for something sometime, and fuck just letting skills and contacts go.
Man that guy made me mad.
*ring ring ring*
"...Hello?"
"YOU WANT WORK IN THIS TOWN OR WHAT?"
"...Eh?"
"YOU SPEAK JAPANESE RIGHT? WE NEED SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS JAPANESE."
"...Who are you? Who do you work for? What is this phone call about?"
"PFFT. YOU SAID ON YOUR RESUME YOU MAJORED IN JAPANESE. THAT DON'T SOUND LIKE NO JAPANESE TO ME. YOU WANNA EARN CASH MONEY OR NOT?"
"Okay. Since you woke me up anyway, I'm going to go take a piss and pop an Eggo waffle into the toaster. It'll probably be done in about 8 minutes. I like them just a little bit burned, so they're crunchy, you know? Anyway, I'm also going to eat the waffle, and probably have a cup of tea. Then I'm going to watch some pornography. I'll probably be finished all of that in about an hour. So, if you can figure-out how to be a grown-up in an hour and want to call me back then to talk about business like a grown-up does, feel free. I can probably even do it in Japanese. Otherwise, do not call phone number ever again."
*Click*
I think that may have been my reaction, assuming I could honestly claim to speak even a word of Japanese.
I hate people who think going all Glengarry Glen Ross is an appropriate way to scout for talent, and I don't think it's ever wise to give your time / energy to someone who clearly demands all of your respect while giving you none in return.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
Ceres, keep at it!
Plus called after like 10am.