垂れ目：Droopy Eyes

Now, I'll be one of the first to admit that I don't have a splendid eye for fashion or an inkling on how to become more beautiful or gorgeous (my only advise is to exercise/workout -_-), but I thought I knew what a droopy eye was before I came to Japan.

Just the other day, I was told that I had:

垂れ目

( たれめ / tareme )

A quick consultation with a dictionary will tell you that this means "drooping/droopy eyes".

What?! I know I'm no Brad Pitt, but I never knew I was this:

whatcha looking at kid?!

Well, apparently I was in the wrong because it was soon explained to me that having 垂れ目 was a compliment. It meant that I had nice curves to eyes; even better, the edges of my eyes slanted downwards.

Now, I don't know if it was just the way that I slept the night before, or if I've always been blessed with droopy eyes, but either way I was shocked and happy at the same time. Happy because no one has ever complimented my eyes before (why do blue/green-eyed people get all the compliments?!), and shocked because I could never imagine people wanting droopy eyes.

In America if someone says you've got droopy eyes, you've either:

1) Have a medical condition

2) Been training for the UFC too hard

3) Been hitting the drugs too hard

And only number 2 sounds like it has any merit. 

The point is, in Japan, having droopy eyes means something totally different. Even after reading my banter, I still would recommend talking to a good ol' fashioned Japanese High School girl because she could probably explain the detail a whole lot better. But, simply look at this picture and try to understand:

look into my eyes...

Yep, droopy eyes are beautiful in Japan. That's all there is to know.

Hope you learned something! I kinda did...kinda~

おつかれさま！

声が低い：A low-deep voice

This is an example of a difference in word choice. In America, when we listen to someone talk with a good bass-like voice, we say that he/has a "deep voice". 

However, Japan is different. In order to say that someone has a deep, rumbling, booming voice you have to say something like, "彼の声が低い” (kare no koe ga hikui).

Directly translated comes out to "his voice is low". 

In English, if someone's voice is low, it means that the volume of his voice is low (or soft). Then you reply, "speak up! I can't hear ya!"

Well, this isn't Japanese at all, but I thought it was someone related because a Japanese person would probably say that he has a low voice.

Hope you learned something! Now use it!

日本語がんばって～

寝てください: Please sleep soundly

Imagine this: You are a 10 year-old kid in America. You've been working hard on your homework all day, and finally, finally, finally you're able to complete it right before dinner. 

You eat dinner like a zombie, lethargically spooning heaps and heaps of food into your mouth. Right as you finish, your mom tells you to brush your teeth and then ________ (?)

Choices:

a) quickly go to bed

b) take your time and fall asleep

c) take sleeping pills

d) watch the news in order to fall asleep quicker

If you answered (a) you're correct!!!

Japanese sleeping pillow

Incidentally, in Japan, your Japanese mother (okaasan) would tell you differently.

In this situation a Japanese person would tell you "ゆっくり寝てください” (yukkuri netekudasai), or roughly translated, "please sleep slowly".

Of course it doesn't mean that you should take 3 hours to fall asleep, nor does it mean you should take your time to prepare for bed, but I think it falls more upon the lines of sleep soundly.

So, if a Japanese person says this to you, don't look at them like they said something outrageously idiotic (like I did :P), simply nod your head, quickly go to sleep, and then take your time in the land of dreams.

Well, it's almost time to sleep, so everyone: ゆっくり寝てください and またね！