Monday night I had a lesson over at Yuka’s house, so after my regular lessons I walked over there and rang the doorbell. But, nobody was home.
I got there around 6:55, and the lesson is usually from 7-8, so I was a little surprised. Then I was worried that maybe I had the wrong day. I decided to go kill a little time at the nearby convenience store browsing the junk food, and when I came back about five minutes later Yuka’s mom was just pulling into the driveway.
She was surprised that Yuka wasn’t home, so she guided me to Yuka’s bedroom where we usually do the lessons, set me up with an iced coffee, and tried to get in touch. Turns out she was running late, and Yuka showed up around 7:25 or so. Her mom was pissed.
Yuka came in and apologized to me quickly in English, and we started the lesson. I wasn’t too bothered with it – as they say in the industry, shit happens. Trains are late, boyfriends are hard to resist, homework is almost finished, etc. It was only 20 minutes or so, so who cares? Yuka’s mom came up a few minutes later and told Yuka to apologize Japanese style, which is to get down on your hands and knees and bow your head to the ground – it was pretty hardcore. I insisted that everything was OK but I realized that how I felt about the situation was really not part of the equation here.
After her mom left we finished up the lesson. We went to eight o’clock, the usual ending time, and she paid me for the full hour (which wsa nice). Anyway, it was an interesting peek into raising children in Japan, and how much discipline is emphasized, at least at Yuka’s house.
