Tokyo Times

As many of you already know, I have moved from Tokyo to Kumamoto. Kumamoto is both the city I live in and the prefecture on the island of Kyushu, which is the southernmost of the four big islands. I will be living here for the remainder of my time in Japan, so I thought I would post some of my reflections on my time in Tokyo.

Tokyo was intense. I had never been in a city so large. The population is roughly 32.5 million people, the largest city in the world. In comparison, New York City has "only" 19 million people. It definitely took some getting used to, and I am not yet convinced that I ever truly adjusted to having that many people around constantly. On the upside, I felt perfectly safe going out running at night because there were so many lights and so many people. I was never alone in Tokyo, save when I was in my apartment and even then I could hear people walking and biking four floors down. Or look across my balcony and see my neighbors working in their rooftop garden less than twenty feet from where I was standing. Or walk out my front door and stare right into my other neighbor's living room about ten feet from my face.

Our apartments were really close to Shinjuku Station, which is the busiest train station in the world with a total of four million people moving through it daily. The crazy thing is, those were our neighborhood stomping grounds. We were there almost every day, even if we were just passing through. It still boggles my mind that I became one of those four million commuters. Go to YouTube and type in "Tokyo rush hour, Shinjuku station" into the search. The amount of people is truly insane.

I felt so small in Tokyo. Like a little fish in a massive fish school. I was totally forgettable to those I crossed paths with, because you crossed paths with thousands of people every day. I was always wondering what their stories were and if we would ever cross paths again, and, if we did, would we know it?

The flip side of that was that I did make some very dear connections while in Tokyo. I have raved in this blog about my friends at Koishikawa Lutheran and I meant every word. I was terrified of church here in Japan and attending there certainly had its challenges, but truly, that church made Tokyo feel like home in a way that nothing else did. They accepted me from the very start and made me feel so comfortable, so welcomed, so utterly loved, with no reservations. It was there, for the first time, that God made me feel like Japan could be home. The idea that these people welcomed me into their hearts so readily without knowing really anything about me is a wonderful one and it makes me cry to remember it. I am sure that the congregation I have here in Kumamoto will be just as special to me, but Koishikawa was first and it will always hold that happy distinction in my heart. Here's to Tokuno-sensei and all the rest. I love you all dearly and cannot thank you enough for everything you did for me.

There were others in Tokyo that I made connections with outside of church. There are far too many to list, but I hope, if you're reading this, you know who you are. They say that home is where the heart is and that's true. Your heart is where the people you love are, so for that, the people were what made Tokyo home.

As for my literal home in Tokyo, I kinda miss it actually. We lived in the Sunnyside Court Apartments. Not sure where the name came from, there was no court or a whole lot of sun (except for my apartment! Cheers for being on the top floor!), due to the tall surrounding buildings built close together. Also, it was in Katakana, not English, but don't ask me to spell it; I'm not that advanced yet. I was on the fourth floor, Laura on the third, and Morgan on the second. We gathered in my room, because I was the lucky one who had TWO chairs instead of just one, AND a fold out table.

On our second to last night in Tokyo we gathered in my room to try our hand at ordering a pizza for delivery. Morgan had picked up three beers earlier for us to try and we decided after a hard day of packing to have a pizza and beer night to celebrate. I had received a text from our friend Hashi-san that he had a gift that he wanted to send with us to one of the Kumamoto J-3's and so I was waiting for his call to go meet him and pick it up. So when I got a phone call fifteen minutes after placing our order online (thank you Dominoes for the English menu and online ordering system), I assumed it was Hashi and picked up with a very cheery, "Hey!" It was not Hashi. It was someone speaking entirely in Japanese. I panicked before trying my most polite, "せみませんええごはなしますか？”"Excuse me, do you speak English?" He replied, "はい”"Yes" before continuing to talk to me in Japanese. I got the picture, that it was the delivery man here fifteen minutes before we expected him, and he wanted to be let in, or at least that was my guess, he was talking really fast, but he was the only person I could think would be calling me and speaking entirely in Japanese at 7:00 at night. So I grabbed my wallet and flew out the door after throwing my phone at Laura so that she could speak to him in Japanese. She followed me and five minutes later we were laughing too hard to really make it up the stairs. Poor guy. He had no idea what hit him when the two of us burst out the front door. We scarfed down the pepperoni pizza and toasted to our time in Tokyo... while watching Korean dramas. That story, I feel, is very representative of our time in Tokyo: language mishaps, running flat out, laughter, good food, good friends, crazy timing, Japanese lessons, attempts to find American food, Korean dramas, and blank stares (what the pizza guy got when he asked me something in Japanese before Laura got there).

Tokyo was a blast. Really, it was like an introductory course to Japan. It wasn't strenuous, there was no real job for us to do, save learn as much Japanese as possible (in my case it wasn't much) and get immersed in the culture here. Essentially, we spent two months as tourists. We ate out a lot. More than we probably should have. We went exploring frequently, though there are still places I wish we had gone. We found hidden gems and well known landmarks. I became brave about my inability to converse in Japanese and refused to let that stop me from trying to talk to people. We made connections with people from all walks of life and all ages. We had mishaps that became inside jokes and victories that led to more eating out in order to "celebrate". I feel that the three of us quickly established roles within our group and created a bond that will not be easily broken. Tokyo was our adjustment period and I am very thankful for it; now, our real work begins. Tokyo was the beginning of our adventure. Were this a novel, Tokyo would have been Part One and now we move on to Part Two. We have our setup, now the plot thickens!

Top Ten Favorite things about Tokyo: (in absolutely no particular order)

1. Hotteok (the pancake/English muffin thing)
2. Koishikawa Lutheran
3. Edo-Tokyo museum (I learned so much! Have to go back!)
4. blogging times at Tully's (though they never could make as good of a mocha as Snow Cup)
5. Snow Cup
6. Kamakura trip (not really in Tokyo, but we were living there when it happened so you know, it works)
7. Korea Town
8. my miniscule apartment
9. Hongo bible study
10. Tokyo friends (Miss you all!)
11. lectures at the seminary

Okay so that's eleven and I really could keep going I am sure, but I will stop for now. Stay tuned for my initial thoughts on Kumamoto. Here's a teaser: "Will you... allow me... be your boyfriend?"

My apartment in Tokyo

So I literally just turned around from where I took the first picture to take this picture of  the  rest of my apartment.

The view from my balcony

See, I really was there! It was a cute little place, just the right size for just me.

Tokyo night view: picture taken at Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower

Some of my dear Koishikawa people

With friends in Odaiba, a large man-made island outside of  Tokyo. The robot is  called a Gundam, though I'll be honest I have no idea what that means... sorry nerd friends!

Also in Odaiba - we are waiting for fireworks here and absolutely freezing! But the fireworks were worth the wait.

In Kamakura, one of the ancient capitals of Japan. Behind is the Great Buddha. It is made of bronze and was cast in 1252. It has withstood typhoons and tsunamis; very impressive and demanding of respect.

With friends headed to Tokyo Tower! It was a trick taking that picture I must say.

My going away party with Koishikawa - Tokuno-sensei took me to a "drinking  house" to experience more Japanese culture :) So sad to be parting!

God and Google Leading

I've been thinking for some time that I should tell the beginning of the story. The how and the why of the story I have been telling. Every story has to have a beginning, and mine is no exception. Many of you readers already know this part of the story, but for those of you who don't, I shall try to sum it up and explain the string of events that led me here.

The world, its people, and their different cultures, has held a great pull for me ever since I was a little girl. My love for people, not geography, climate, or vacation, was what drove my desire to travel. I think that's part of why I always loved history and literature so much. They were subjects that dealt with people. Humanity fascinates me. Why and how do people do the things that they do? This was the basis of my attraction other cultures and their history. I wanted to travel the globe, but I wanted to do so in a manner that allowed me to settle in one place for a long period of time, to attach roots to that place as it were. I wanted to get to know the people I was living with, to learn their language, their customs, their history, their hopes for the future. Traveling around the world has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I have no idea when it started; it often seems that it has always been there. It is an integral part of who I am; who God created me to be.

This dream seemed to be very difficult to achieve, often impossible. I would look at fliers in high school for exchange programs or even school trips, but the cost was astronomical, even if you got a scholarship. The process repeated itself when I was in college. It didn't help that I attended Peru. Don't read that the wrong way. I adored Peru, I still adore Peru. I could rave about Peru for hours and would like to take this moment to announce that I am a very proud Bobcat and if I ever get the money I would be happy to answer some of those phone calls. But Peru had one characteristic that I both loved and was mildly annoyed with; it was small. Very small. And there was no language study save the two offered semesters of Spanish and no international exchange program. Anything that I did for traveling abroad would be primarily out of pocket. I'm sure you know how hard that would have been for me.

There were other obstacles in the way of this dream, but I must say, money was the biggest one, and I often gave up the idea entirely, only to realize that it would not be set aside so easily. Late summer and early fall of last year witnessed another one of my moments of "giving up that impossible dream". I was seriously considering attending graduate school for American History. I had been considering graduate school for some time, had weighed my options carefully, and had firmly convinced myself that what I wanted more than anything (even traveling abroad) was to go into academia, have my doctorate by the time I was thirty, then get married, and teach at a college like Peru. 

God had other ideas. Obviously.

I started student teaching in August of 2011. I absolutely loved it; I loved teaching, I loved my students, I loved my cooperating teachers, and I loved Bennington High. Graduate school started to waver. I started to think that maybe real world experience would be a good thing. I could teach for a few years and then go back to school. Besides it would be more cost effective that way, and really, I could wait and still have my doctorate by the time I was thirty-five.

But, I still really wanted to go to graduate school. So then I had a moment of brilliance. At least it seemed that way at the time, mostly it was just divine intervention. What if I taught ABROAD for ONE year and THEN went to graduate school?! I could still have my doctorate by the time I was thirty! I could have my cake and eat it too!

But... was it really enough to go abroad for one year? Would I even learn the language? Would I even really get to know people, like really know them? Maybe I could take two years... or three...

Anyway, student teaching continued to go fabulously and I began to look for teaching abroad opportunities. When I mentioned it to people, they insisted that I try. "You're young" they said, "I wish I had gone when I was your age." And my dream reared its head and announced that I was going, everything else be damned. It was time to figure out where, when and how I would go. And low and behold Google showed the way.

I was sitting in Mrs. McGrew's English classroom during plan. I was supposed to be grading papers, but instead I pulled up Google and typed in something along the lines of "teaching English abroad" into the search box. Note: when you type that into Google you get a whole lot of sketch websites. The demand for English teachers around the world is huge and, as with most things like this, the scams are just as huge. So I continued to visit sites, to check job listings, and scroll through the pages intensely. And then there it was. Halfway down the third page.

I dropped everything. "The ELCA?! What?!" I was born and raised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. I knew they had a global missions program, but the thought had never crossed my mind to work for them. And I certainly did not know they hired teachers. Heck, I don't think I even realized they hired lay people. But there it was: ELCA Global Teach Program. They had three locations: Central Europe, China, and... Japan. God was knocking. To be perfectly honest, He had been knocking for a long time, and finally He had to hit me upside the head. If you're curious about the website that He used here's the link:

http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Global-Mission/Engage-in-Global-Mission/Global-Service/Global-Teach.aspx 

The decision to apply wasn't easy. I prayed. A lot. And ran conversations through my head like this: "Well, yes, I might be CALLED a missionary, but I don't have to act like one right? I mean I can just go teach and go to church on Sundays, and it would be exactly like what I would do if I taught in the States. Right? Except for the whole language thing. But I wouldn't really have to be a missionary. Right? Right?! RIGHT?!" They always fell flat even in my head. No, I knew, deep down, that this was a God thing and He would not be shut out.

It was like He had created the position to match everything I had ever wanted. I would be teaching. I would be there for two years and six months. I would be given language lessons, culture lessons, and history lessons. I would be paid. I would have help with student loans. There should have been nothing, absolutely nothing, to give me pause to apply and go for it with everything I had, and yet I hesitated. It was everything I had ever dreamed of, but once it was there in front of me I was hesitant to act.

I had to face the truth now that my dream was a potential reality and I was, quite frankly, terrified. I had never imagined that my first time abroad would be to a country where I didn't speak the language. I always thought that I would go to England, or something, first. Not Poland, China, or Japan. Honestly, they were three places that I had never given much thought to visiting. Also, while I applied for all three, Japan was the one I really wanted. Japan was the one that had all the conditions listed above. And, for, literally, God only knows what reason, Japan was the one that tugged on my heart. I couldn't figure out why. I still can't. I often get asked, "Why Japan?" and I can honestly say I do not know. I am not ashamed of the fact that I frequently ask God what on Earth I am doing here, because, as much fun as I am having, I really have no idea what kind of impact I can possibly make.  

What I do know is, that starting in November 2011 in an English classroom in Bennington High school, God extended an invitation to me, and then gave me no quarter, no room to maneuver, no way to say no, no way to control the situation. Really, He didn't call me so much as order me; I didn't have much of a say in the matter. I recall no conversations of asking, no pleases, no "Would you mind?" Rather, it was more like, "Hey, here's something I think you'll enjoy, and really I need you to go anyway, so fill this out and get your passport ready." The "please's" came from me later when I ended up really, really, really wanting to go.

 I graduated from college in December and continued to work at the library, a job I really loved. Meanwhile, I filled out the application and agonized over the essay questions. I submitted the application at the end of January and was asked for a phone interview at the end of February. The phone interview was in March and when I got the call to come to Chicago for an in-person interview there was intense shrieking and jumping for joy. My interview was on April 12th and I flew to Chicago and back in one day. I was dressed in a spanking new, bright red, skirt suit and was ridiculously nervous, but I like to think I hid it well. The interview cemented for me that this was where I was supposed to be and when I got home that evening I told my mom that I wanted Japan more than I had ever wanted anything.

The wait was agonizing. They told me I would hear within the week. At a week and a half I couldn't take it anymore and I called. I then played phone tag and it was the absolute worst game of phone tag ever because they wouldn't say anything in the messages. I was like that girl trying to decide if a boy likes her by analyzing every sentence, every tone, every pause, for what it could possibly mean! Finally, on April 25th, I got the call. I had the job. I was home alone at the time and I couldn't call and tell anyone for a good five or ten minutes because I wasn't coherent in the slightest. I was going to Japan.

The rest is history really.

I still can't answer the question "Why Japan?" and to be honest, the question of "What am I doing here?!" is much more frequent for me. I truly cannot explain why I am here other than a call from God. For those of you who know me well, you know what a trial that is to me. I want a plan, I want answers, I want to know exactly what is going to happen, when and where it is going to happen, and why it is going to happen. God doesn't work that way though, and I like to think He has a lot of fun shredding my plans. At least one of us should get a kick out of it. But... I'm working on this trust thing. Slowly, I will get better and maybe even one day I will be able to look back and say, "Ah. I was called to Japan because..." Or, it might always be a mystery. God alone knows the answer. I just really hope He chooses to share it with me someday.

PS: I would like to thank Katie for the title of this blog. Thanks Katie!

Of TGI Friday's and Shinto Shrines

We three ladies welcomed the New Year in brilliantly, if I do say so myself. There was ice skating, fortune telling, burgers, and shrine visits. Also, a lot of coffee and a bit of champagne. Morgan, Laura, and I had debated about what exactly we wanted to do for New Year's. As you may have guessed, New Year's in Japan is very different (in some ways) from New Year's in America. Although, I am pretty sure Tokyo breaks that mold. There were countdown parties all around this town. But here the shrines and the temples are overwhelmingly packed at midnight, as the people crowd for the first shrine/temple visit of the year. Meiji Shrine alone, in the first three days of the New Year, welcomes three million people. The line for the midnight opening was astounding.

A temple is Buddhist and a shrine is Shinto, in case you were wondering, though many things cross over between the two. I would love to be able to go into more detail about Japanese New Year customs, but I haven't experienced all that many, nor do I understand much of what I do know. What I can tell is, for the most part, New Year's here is family time. It is a time to clean out the old and in with the new. I can also say with certainty that the decorations are beautiful and the food is delicious.

So, not knowing exactly how to welcome the New Year's in Japanese style the three of us decided to go with a mixed bag of American and Japanese traditions. To begin, we went to Tully's. Not very exciting I'll grant you, and the mocha wasn't all that tasty. Not the most auspicious start. Morgan and I left early to grab some food from the store (for fear nothing would be open the next day) and some champagne for midnight. Below is what happens when Laura is not around to guilt us in to eating better.

After we dropped the food off and put on some warmer clothes it was off to ice skating in Roppongi! The rink is outside and run by a TV station so there was a big screen towering over the rink playing all kinds of promotions videos and previews. We enjoyed taking a break from the skating and creating story lines for what was happening on screen. They got increasingly more dramatic as the evening wore on. As an added bonus, after they zambonied (new word) the ice we got a free ice show! Some professional figure skaters took to the ice and gave us two beautiful performances, with one of the two songs being a fun version of Auld Lang Syne.

Outside the rink after skating

After skating we headed off to Harajuku where we enjoyed a fabulously American meal at TGI Friday's. This included onion rings for an appetizer and massive burgers for the main course. See below for the amazing goodness. We even convinced Laura (who does not have the love of red meat that both Morgan and I possess) to order a burger! Yay Laura!

Yay! Massive burger times! None of us could finish ours. It was kinda lame and we felt a bit  un-American :)

Then we met up with our friend Hashi-san, and Eric and Tauna to wait it out until midnight. We strolled around Harajuku and took in the sights and the interesting people passing by. Eric and Tauna decided to join the crowds at Meiji, but Morgan, Laura, and I wanted to actually go up to a shrine or temple and pay our respects. That would not be possible at Meiji due to the crowds. We grabbed some seats at Starbucks to wait and at a quarter till we headed out to Togo Shrine. The line to the, as of yet closed, doors of the shrine was getting long when we jumped in. There was a large bonfire going to burn tokens purchased at the last New Year's.

The massive bonfire

Waiting in line at the shrine

The countdown began and the whole line started chanting, which turned into cheering at midnight. It was fun to hear the mix of English and Japanese as people counted down. I tried to count backwards in Japanese: "juu, kyuu, haichi, nana, ryoku, go, yon, san, ni, ichi!" But I kept stumbling and couldn't say it fast enough so I quickly switched back to English. Lots of cheers and high fives at the clock struck midnight and the massive wooden doors of the shrine swung open. We made our way through the doors, across the courtyard, and up the steps to the shrine itself. We tossed in 100 yen coins and bowed. I was too swept up in the moment to do the full prayer properly, but I certainly wasn't the only one. Then we had sweet sake, hot and delicious, and paid for our fortunes. Hashi tried to translate for us, but, since they are fairly abstract in nature, it was difficult to understand. I do know that mine was apparently "middle lucky". I'll toast to that.

With Morgan, Laura, and Hashi after paying our respects at the shrine

New Year's fortunes! You shook the tube thing until a stick came out and then you  handed the stick to the person working there and they gave you the corresponding fortune. After you paid for it of course :) Middle lucky for me!

After that Hashi steered us towards Meiji to catch the train back. Many of the trains run basically all night on New Year's. The area around Meiji was crazy and but we were able to crowd onto the second train that came. And so we three headed home and up to my apartment (I'm the only one with two chairs and a table that folds out so we party in my place) for some champagne to end the evening. We drank out of coffee mugs just to be classy. I had trouble opening the champagne. See below, courtesy of Laura.

I only noticed she was taking pictures at the end, silly me, I was too wrapped up in trying to get the damn thing open and they were too busy laughing and taking pictures to be of any assistance at all. 

But I won the battle in the end. Yay for being classy with the coffee mugs!

And thus our New Year's Eve ended in style.　乾杯! Cheers!

Understanding にばん

Okay so the above statement says, theoretically, "Understanding Number Two". I wasn't sure how to say "Understanding Part 2" or "Understanding: The Sequel" so I just went with the clunky "Understanding Number Two". Considering the topic of this blog, I thought it would be appropriate to place some random, tiny, tidbit of Japanese that I do know into the title even if it doesn't make sense. I reread what I had posted earlier, and while I still wholeheartedly agree with the statement that if you open your heart God will do the rest, it does gloss over the funny that happens in between. The blank stares, from both parties, the laughter, the distressed noises (these are all made by me it would seem), and the ever more frequent "わかりません” or "I don't understand". Incidentally, that's pronounced "wakarimasen" but I have been saying "wakirimasen" for weeks now. I'm pretty sure my mispronunciation coupled with my blank stare got the point across though.

So, when I am on my own these kinds of misunderstandings happen all the time. However, since I expect them regularly, I rarely get upset about it anymore and am far more likely to see the funny in it rather than the distressing bits. That's not to say that I haven't been caught in situations where my lack of Japanese started to make me fairly nervous.

For example, the other day at church I had the oddest thing happen. I was sitting there at tea time when Tokuno-sensei came up to talk to me. He was far more serious than I have ever had him be while talking directly to me and was speaking to me using far more Japanese than he usually does. I finally got the gist that there was a woman at the door who wanted to talk to me and it was someone I had met on Christmas Eve. What was even odder was that by this point the church ladies were in something of a tizzy and as I was walking out I got lots of "Genki?" and "Daijoubu?", meaning essentially "How are you?" or "Are you okay?" I was wondering what on earth was going on, and when I saw who it was I was even more confused. This woman had been at the church on Christmas Eve and spoke to me for quite some time in English. She was an artist and at the time had wanted to take my picture to do an oil painting but her camera was out of batteries. After she left one of the church ladies had told me she wasn't a member. Since, in the States, not being a member isn't that big of a deal I just shrugged it off, but apparently I had missed something because the people I had come to know and love were not happy that she had come back. I was a little weirded out that she had come back to take my picture, but I really didn't see any harm.

What was even stranger about the whole thing was two gentlemen from the congregation had followed me out and were clearly interrogating this woman. They were being politely hostile, something before I would have called on oxymoronic statement, but having seen it, it's a bit scary. In the five minutes that I was at the door with them they probably asked me at least four times if I was okay, and when I said I was, they would turn their attention back to interrogating this woman. She asked for my Kumamoto address and I refused, saying that I didn't know it yet. Unfortunately, that just prompted her to state that she would come back next Sunday to get it (I think that I won't know my address then either).

When I walked back into the dining area I was immediately surrounded by my lovely church ladies who kept patting me and asking if I was okay and telling me to be careful before steering me back to my seat and pouring me more tea and shoving more tea snacks at me (they have discovered I love Kit Kats), all the while speaking rapidly to each other in very agitated voices. I meanwhile really had no idea what had happened and when I asked Nakano-san he didn't know either. I asked one other gentleman who spoke English, and who had been standing guard earlier, what had happened but he just said, "You can be calm now," and handed me a Kit Kat.

That was one situation where I really, really wish I knew what was being said.  I am not the only one to deal with these situations, obviously. I was talking to Morgan yesterday and she stated that she was pretty sure she is living a double life due to her conversations at church, where she basically says yes to anything asked without really knowing what she is saying yes too. As she put it, according to her church, they probably think her father is some high ranking surgeon, her brother is an actor, and they all live together in some massive Hollywood mansion. Oh and apparently she's engaged.

I am pretty sure this happens often to me too, especially when I am talking to Nagayoshi-san or the others at church that have some English, but not a lot. For instance, a regular conversation with Nagayoshi-san often goes like this:

Nagayoshi-san: *something in Japanese, said very slowly and ennuciated clearly*

Me: Huh?

Nagayoshi-san: *more Japanese* Kumamoto *more Japanese*

Me: Oh, Kumamoto! When do I leave you mean? (this is totally a guess)

Nagayoshi-san: Yes!

Me: January 10th. Mata raishu (next week)

Nagayoshi-san: No, no, no... ano.... *more Japanese with hand gestures* Plane? Ano... train?

Me: Oh hai! Plane.

And then we beam at each other all pleased with ourselves that we had a conversation and I usually get a handshake from Nagayoshi-san who tends to shake my hand for everything. Even talking to Nakano-san sometimes has its strange misunderstandings. For example, while asking me about Christmas he said...

Nakano-san: You nervous?

Me: Am I nervous?

Nakano-san: Yes.

Me: About what? Now?

Nakano-san: No, Christmas.

Me: *staring at him, not sure what he is talking about*

Nakano-san: Your family.... *long pause, then suddenly he claps his hands and says...* HOMESICK!

Me: Oh totally!

I actually love these conversations. I mean really. They always end with me and the other person beaming at each other like we just won a game show or something. Even funnier are the ones where I am just standing there staring at the people talking to me (this generally happens most with the ladies at church) and they will turn to each other and say, "She doesn't understand" in Japanese (a phrase I know very well by now, I hear it all the time) before turning back to me and continuing to talk to me in Japanese. Then they laugh and announce again to each other than I don't understand and turn back to smile at me some more. I on the other hand am smiling back having no idea what just happened.

As I stated earlier, it's something that I have come to expect and something that, for the most part, I get great amusement out of; these conversations usually have Laura, Morgan and I in stitches when we recount them to each other later. I thank God for giving me such a blessing in disguise. There is something very humbling in having to rely on another person for most situations when you are out and about, though I am getting better at making requests myself. The key is not to be shy about it. They know that you are not Japanese right off the bat, and most will assume you don't speak Japanese. This works wonders in my favor and with lots of gestures, smiles, and what little Japanese I do know, I am able to muddle through. It has been rare that I am in a situation that ends with no understanding on either side, though my friends here have told me it will be more common when I get to Kumamoto. So, on that note... better go get to studying!　じゃまた