I TURNED A CORNER AND PASSED TWO CUTE YOUNG “OFFICE LADIES” (OR “O.L.’s” AS THEY ARE SOMETIMES CALLED) SHOPPING DURING THEIR LUNCH HOUR. PERIPHERALLY, I GOT THE FEELING I WAS BEING STARED AT. GLANCING THEIR WAY CAUSED A FIT OF WHISPERS & GIGGLES. THEY BLUSHED, SMILED, AND BOWED EVER SO SLIGHTLY.
NOW THAT’S A REACTION I DON’T OFTEN GET IN THE U.S. WHILE PERUSING THE AISLES FOR FRESH PRODUCE. COULD IT BE THEY WERE SMITTEN BY THE MAJESTIC VISION OF MY PIERCING BLUE EYES AND BULGING PECTORAL MUSCLES? …PROBABLY NOT. THEY MUST HAVE SIMPLY OVERHEARD THE UNDENIABLE SEXINESS OF MY SILKY SMOOTH NEW YORK ACCENT. YEAH, DEM CHICKS GO FRIGGIN NUTS WHEN DEY HEAR A GUY LIKE ME TAWKIN. FUGGEDABOWDIT!
WE SPENT SO MUCH YEN ON FOOD AND DRINKS, WE EARNED A FISTFUL OF IN-STORE LOTTERY TICKETS. WE PRESENTED OUR EARNINGS TO THE CLERKS AT A TABLE FULL OF ENCLOSED WOODEN WHEELS. EACH WHEEL CONTAINED DOZENS OF SPECIALLY MARKED MARBLES, AND WHEN YOU GIVE THE HANDLE A 360 DEGREE TURN, ONE OF THE MARBLES DROPS OUT AND DETERMINES WHAT YOU WIN. I WAS HOPING TO SCORE SOMETHING TO IMPRESS THOSE OFFICE LADIES WITH (LIKE A NEW CAR, OR A YEAR’S SUPPLY OF GREEN TEA), BUT FOR THE MOST PART WE JUST WON STORE COUPONS. WE WERE ALSO HANDED SOME FISH FROM A COOLER UNDER THE TABLE. HOORAY FOR THE VEGETARIAN, AND HIS HANDS FULL OF DEAD FISH TO TAKE HOME!
BACK AT SHINPEI’S ART STUDIO, THE FELLAS PUT THEMSELVES TO THE TASK OF PREPARING TONIGHT’S FEAST. I TWIDDLED MY THUMBS AND PUT MYSELF TO THE TASK OF FORMULATING GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT QUESTIONS IN JAPANESE TO ASK THEM, FOR THE SAKE OF CONVERSATION.
WE DROVE OVER TO THEIR ANNUAL HANAMI SPOT IN A THIN STRETCH OF GREEN BETWEEN A CANAL AND A HIGHWAY. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SAKURA TREES HAD NOT QUITE FULLY BLOSSOMED YET… BUT LACK OF FLOWERS TO VIEW WASN’T GOING TO STOP ANYONE FROM HAVING THEIR FLOWER VIEWING PARTY! NOT WHEN THERE’S ALCOHOL WAITING TO BE CONSUMED, AT LEAST.
AFTER A WHILE, A GOOD CROWD OF FRIENDS HAD GATHERED FOR THE FESTIVITIES. I KNEW NONE OF THEM. MORE IMPORTANTLY, NONE OF THEM KNEW ME. I WOULD INTRODUCE MYSELF TO THE NEW ARRIVALS, BUT THOSE BREIF EXCHANGES DIDN’T SEEM TO HAVE ENOUGH STEAM TO DEVELOP INTO ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS.
AN HOUR OR TWO PASSED OF ME POLITELY TRYING TO LISTEN IN ON THE CHIT CHAT, WHEN SUDDENLY SOME OF THE PARTY-GOERS WERE STRUCK WITH THE COURAGE TO ENGAGE THIS INTRUSIVE ROUND-EYED MANGLER OF THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE. I’M NO SCIENTIST, BUT I SUSPECT THIS WAS ABOUT THE SAME TIME THE BOOZE SLOSHING AROUND IN THEIR TUMMIES WAS STARTING TO COURSE ITS WAY THRU THEIR VEINS. JUST A GUESS.
FROM THAT POINT ON, IT WAS A BLAST. I’D BOUNCE AROUND FROM GROUP TO GROUP AND STRIKE UP CONVERSATIONS ON EVERYTHING FROM SUNSETS ON MOUNTAINTOPS, TO HOW LOVELY THE WORLD HAS BECOME SINCE GEORGE BUSH AND HIS CRONIES CAME ON THE SCENE. THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF LINGUISTIC HICCUPS ON EITHER SIDE, BUT THE GENERAL IDEAS WERE GETTING ACROSS. WELL.. EXCEPT WITH PERHAPS ONE PARTICULAR YOUNG GIRL, THAT IS…
THE INDIVIDUAL IN QUESTION ARRIVED LATE TO THE SHINDIG. FROM WHAT I'M TOLD, SHE’D LIKE TO BE FLUENT IN ENGLISH SOME DAY. SHINPEI INTRODUCED ME, SUSPECTING THAT MEETING A FOREIGNER WOULD BE OF SOME INTEREST TO HER. HE SUSPECTED CORRECTLY. SHE BOUNCED UP AND DOWN AT THE REVELATION THAT THERE WAS AN ACTUAL ENGLISH SPEAKER IN HER MIDST.
…LITERALLY …SHE WAS BOUNCING.
GIRL: Ano… NE! WHY… FOR… YOU HERE?
ME: I AM HERE FOR VACATION.
GIRL: ...NANI? (WHAT?)
ME: VACATION. BOKU NO YASUMI DESU. (THIS IS MY VACATION)
GIRL: Anouuu… EH? NANI? (Ummm… WHAT?)
ME: YASUMI! YA-SU-MI. (VACATION! VA-CA-TION)
GIRL: …?
EVERYONE ELSE: NAN DAROU! NIHONGO MO WAKARANAI?!? (WHAT THE HELL! NOW YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND JAPANESE EITHER?!?)
AND THEN EVERYONE LAUGHED, AND DRANK A TOAST TO THE SAKURA BLOSSOMS THAT WERE YET TO BE.
TODAY I LIKE: TALKING IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE, AND BEING UNDERSTOOD… ALMOST
TODAY I DISLIKE: RUNNING TO THE STATION FOR THE LAST TRAIN
No comments:
Post a Comment