I had a big fight with a German friend over the direction given across mobile phones.
FM: I have arrived at M Bank at Hiroo. Which way is Nishi-Azabu?
GF: Do you face the bank?
FM: Yes.
GF: Then you cannot take a taxi to N-A from your side of the street. Cross the street and take a taxi that drives you to the left*.
* Japan sticks, as a good old island country, to left-hand traffic.
After 5 minutes it turned out GF thought I was on the same side as the bank (as in; Bank Flam | | <—street) whereas I was on the other side of the street looking out on the bank (like: Bank | | Flam). Eventually I ended up paying 5 dollars more for the taxi because I was taken to the opposite direction and had to come back all the way.
If one faces a landmark may be a bit awkward question to ask when leading the way in English but GF claims that English organises geography in the same way as German. That is, if one faces a landmark, one means to say that one is in front of it. I would like to know what is the most common and clearest way to express myself in the two cases.
To face something entails, to my Japanese influenced understanding of English, being at a distance from the object in question. When talking about directions, a street, a block or a bridge is a typical object that intervenes between me and the landmark. Another point is, if I had been on the same as the bank, what is the use of facing it when I have no business with it but with the street in front of it? I would have said, "M Bank is just behind me," assuming that I am facing the street.
Several hours after the fight, we were already laughing about the incident. Being absolutely no native speakers, it is safe to say that we speak some kind of pidgin English. What interests me most now is to share my funny blunder with the fellow Agorites and to ask how I could handle locations in English with more clarity.
Flam
