Ok ok, I`ll actually tell you why Nabe is a funny name for my car. Asta is right on: nabe means pot in Japanese. Isnt that funny enough, right there?
My car is Okinawan and clearly female, so after a nomikai (drinking party) one night I asked my female co-workers, "what is a typical Okinawan female name?" Shouko hiccoughs (being somewhat tipsy at the time this occurred), sways, ponders for a moment, raises her index finger and proclaims NABE!. Case closed.
Why would this be a name for a person, you are wondering. Before WWII, it wasn't uncommon for women in Okinawa to be named after common household kitchen items. One of these names was Nabe. So, thats pretty much just weird and hilarious by itself.
A last twist on the story is that the most famous woman poet in Okinawan history (my sources on this are Etsuko sensei and Jeff) was named Nabe. Onna Nabe (Ms. Pot Woman).
So its a good name! Respectibiggle (as some cheerful Marsh-wiggles might say) and full of Okinawan cultural history.
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Joyce! It's Jesse from Tulane! I've been reading Cheryl's bloggity and I didn't see that you had one too! Oh no, I have so much catching up to do!
Jesse!
jessie! sweet mother of god, youre alive. i thought rotc ate you alive. guess i never heard anything after our tulane days. wait, its coming back to me... you transfered and so did i. rockin that you found my blog. you got one? tell me tell me, im so bored at work all day, need more blog fodder.
this is so cute!
Not to interrupt the reunion (which is way cool), but here's my post about Onna Nabe:
http://okinawablog.vox.com/library/post/onna-nabe-will-have-her-revenge-on-manzanmo.html
I am so glad that the secret is solved! If I was to choose a japanese name now for myself, it would definitely be - um - no idea. never learnt any names for kitchen items, just pointed at them or used them... I'll tell you soon. And happy reunion. You find my new blog under this name: www.bleistift-und-notiz-blog.blogspot.com. Don't expect too much, I just started with it, so there isn't a lot yet, but at least you can practice your German... :-) Gambatte ne?
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