Today was a very relaxing day, pretty hot, but not too much work to do. I went into work around 11:30, and sat around with the teachers and told stories in English and Japanese. We recapped last evening’s drink-a-thon, and basically wasted a couple of hours until we left. I had received a notice in my mail that said that there was a package waiting for me in a remote postal office, so Mr. Hayashi used that as an excuse to take off and go get it.
Once we got out there, it was only about 2 minutes in line to pick it up, and then I was done. It turned out to be my bank card for my new bank account. I’ll have to try it out in the next couple of days.
Afterwards, Mr. Hayashi dropped me off at the local hardware store/superstore in Befu. I picked up a few things including a floor lamp, odds and ends for the apartment, etc. I asked one of the clerks in broken Japanese where I could find a little brick of chemicals that goes into your toilet tank to keep it clean. After five minutes of looking around, she took me to where they were – perfect! I felt pretty confident, but while browsing somewhere else in the store, a security guard came up to me. I thought maybe I had said something in Japanese that was offensive accidentally… or maybe they thought I might shoplift toilet chemicals.
The guard approached me and started talking in English. His skills were quite good, and we had a long conversation. I guess they had paged him because everyone knew that his English was great. He was eager to practice a little, and other employees kept coming by and pointing/giggling. I think it was a pretty good highlight for his day.
I hauled all my gear back home on the train, and then ran over to my neighborhood shaved ice shack. The lady there was glad to see me, since I had been in Yashiro all last week. I actually think she was kind of worried about me.
She made some shaved ice for me, then asked me to sit down in the shade underneath her house. When she came back, she had a Japanese ice cream, some cold black tea, and a beautiful girl with her. She introduced us and we took a crack at communication. Her English was probably better than my Japanese, but she was pretty shy in using it. We talked while I scarfed down all the food, and I think I learned that she is the fiancee of the son of the shaved ice lady. It was tough going trying to explain everything, but I think we did OK. I thanked everyone for all the goodies, and they both waved to me until I disappeared around the corner. It was a bit of international goodwill over shaved ice – I never know when something like this is going to happen.
Tomorrow I’m hoping to get signed up for internet, but even if that works, it will be at least two weeks. I’m logging these entries on my computer, and I’m hoping that I can upload them soon.
