Lessons from a Translation

Top ten things I’ve learnt while working on a rather long (and still ongoing) museum translation contract:

10) No amount of lemon zinger tea is too much when you have an electric water pot and a cold.

9) No matter what hours I keep there are always two other people cooking in the kitchen when I want to use an element, somebody leaving their room just as I’m going to bed, and never anybody in the shower room at the same time as me.

8) I enjoy (and miss) cooking but am disgusted by the kitchen I share with 35 other individuals.

7) Getting out of my room once a day is a good thing!

6) My room has a beautiful view of the sunrise. (This surprises and delights me but I am still unlikely to see it unless I have yet to go to bed!)

5) Knitting is calming - but only when you don't make mistakes and have to rip back half the project!

4) Late night messenger chats with friends in Canada are sanity savers!

3) Online translation programs are useless but Wikipedia and online dictionaries are lifesavers.

2) Japanese history is really tough to explain in English!

and, the number one thing I've (re)learned is:

1) Despite the long hours, deadlines that loom impossibly, and the stress that goes with all of that, I absolutely love working in museums!