Quite a few surprising moments lately. I was riding my bike toward my apartment and suddenly this man in his driveway steps out and says "Hello! Hello!" very insistantly, so I stopped and said hello. He tell me that he knows my neighbor, Masa, and was once a student of his at his English school. We bond in silence on this shared friendship for a moment and then he suddenly asks me, "Can I introduce my daughter to you right now?" I'm awkwardly propped up on my bike in my middle of the street, but what can I say except "sure!" He runs inside. Somehow I was expecting a young girl, maybe a future JHS student, but a much older woman comes out and I am quite surprised. She comes over and speaks to me in very good English, explaining that she just returned from Vancouver, and she wanted to improve her English in order to apply for his Master's Degree in the United States. Wouldn't I please be her friend? I respond enthusiastically and invite her over to my apartment for English conversation. We exchange information and I am once again on my way home.
Wow! What a surprise that was! You never know what will happen. I was so pleased with making a new friend, I cleaned my whole apartment, ha ha.
It has been raining quite a lot. I used to love the rain but not having a car has me beginning to hate it. Having to ride my bike to the store and to work and to ANYWHERE in the rain is like throwing a cat in the bathtub. So I was quite pleased when it it was no longer raining by the time I left work today. I went home and was going to clean my bathroom, but... I had a rather bad experience with spiders and all I wanted was to get away from my apartment, which I was really unhappy with at that moment. So I went for a walk. A long walk. I don't know how long, but I found some places I hadn't noticed before.
When I had almost reached home again, I saw an old couple with a boy and two babies, presumably their grandchildren. I smiled my hello, but to my surprise the woman called out to me. She asked if I recognized her, and after I moment, I had a vague recollection of doing so, last year during Sports Day. She was a friend of my landlord and a JHS teacher that had just retired that year, Mrs.K.
When she saw I was headed home, she called out to her husband and told him to turn around, as they had been going to opposite direction. She spoke to me for a while, or attempted to, but we didn't get far in conversation. To my great surprise, she asked me if I had plans for dinner, and when I said I did not, invited me to their house. I was shocked but very happy at the unexpected offer, and accepted as warmly as I could. I went home to clean up and quickly look up some important phrases like "Thank you for inviting me into your home" (a phrase I don't think I mastered at all) and then walked to their house from my apartment. It was literally right around the corner, 5 minutes on foot, tucked behind a wall facing the rice fields where I like to run.
The older couple I'd met lived with their daughter, her husband, and the three grandchildren that had been out walking with Mr and Mrs.K. Her daughter was making curry at the stove, with one baby on her hip, when I walked in. I sat down next to Mr.K. He also works in education, formerly a teacher, but currently in administration. Unlike his wife, he actually spoke some English, so we got a little farther in conversation. When I refused the offer of beer, he got excited about opening a bottle of wine instead. I'm only slightly more fond of wine than beer, but tried my best to imbue enthusiasm for the bottle he quickly produced. He was very proud of it, making sure that I had the opportunity to look at the label (which I examined studiously, though all I can remember is "something red from California, 2009"), before pouring too much in a glass and offering it to me.
The dinner was nice, if a little awkward due to lingual barriers. I had my iPod/translator ready at my fingertips, but it can only do so much. The entire family was very nice, very patient and forgiving of my bad Japanese. We talked about my family, their family, and the daughter's husband showed me pictures from his trip traveling abroad. For once, I welcomed the presence of children. The two twin babies were a bit pitiful, constantly crying at the slightest provocation, as well as, I suspect, being a little sick with matching colds. However, they did provide a wonderful, neutral distraction for our wandering attention. I think I might have easily have gone completely unremarked in the little world of the three children if not for the video games. When we had finished eating, the older boy invited me to play on his Nintendo Wii with him. Being as he was only about 5 years old, he wasn't daunted by my lack of language skills at all, which was a nice comfort to me! Very little conversation was required once the game was turned on other than "you can do it!" , "go, go, go!" , "oh, too bad.." , "great job!" , "champion!!" and "ah, that was fun", all of which I could handle without a problem. Once we started playing it turned into a family affair, and by the end of the night, I think everybody but Mr. and Mrs. K had had a turn playing Super Mario. I for one learned how important it is to let children win - more a matter of self-preservation than anything else.
Mr. K walked me the 15 steps home to my apartment. It was a lovely, confusing, utterly unexpected turn of events... but I was warmly pleased that I had gotten the opportunity to be a part of a regular Japanese family night... very much like any family I might know at home.
Cheers,
makin' friends Baer
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