what’s in a name?

If you don’t speak any Japanese, this blog’s name might just sound like a mashup of something “Japanese-sounding,” which is actually sort of correct. While not randomly chosen syllables, it’s a portmanteau of two words: gaijin and jinsei. Gaijin is actually already a bit of a contraction, because it’s the shortened version of gaikokujin, meaning foreigner. The word is made of 外 (gai) meaning “outside,” 国 (koku) meaning “country,” and 人 (jin) meaning “person.” Literally, “outside country person.” However, when shortened to gaijin, it still gets the meaning across with “outside person,” even if it has negative connotations in some circumstances. Jinsei means “life,” making their combination a cheeky way to say “foreigner life,” something cute but perhaps simple. However, a language as old and storied as Japanese would naturally have more than one way to say “life,” and each has slightly different connotations. Jinsei (人生) evokes the idea of life as a concept, something all-encompassing and universal, rather than something more routine like our idea of “daily life,” which would be conveyed using seikatsu (生活) or nichijou (日常).

Other than the ability to combine both term’s use of “jin” for person, I wanted my title to display a longevity and connection with others. This blog won’t just chronicle my time as an ALT (assistant language teacher), but bring part of myself into it. Less informational, more inspirational. I am also intending to create a life for myself in the community, not just a foray into the foreign before my “real life” begins somewhere else.

community foreign living word play