It has been a few weeks since I last updated...so here are my excuses.
Halloween lessons
"Are you sure, Luv?" My Australian friend Muffin asked me in a panic. "Are you sure she can be a Panda?" Like other foreigners in my neighborhood, Muffin had come to talk to me again about the rules of Halloween. To our absolute surprise and delight, our neighborhood here in Tokyo was hosting trick or treating for hundreds of costumed kids and adults. And, as one of the Americans in our apartment complex, I had become, by default, the resident expert on the holiday.
"Yes, Luv," I reassured her. (G'day Mate and G'Day Fosters! Somehow I've moved to Japan and picked up Australian lingo). "I'm sure. Your daughter does not have to wear a scary costume for Halloween. She can be a panda. A panda is a great costume."
"Oh," Muffin said. "I thought she had to have a scary costume, so I bought her a scary accessory to carry. I'll let her know that she doesn't have to trick or treat with numchucks after all."
English lessons
A few weeks ago, also around Halloween time, I was invited to tour a Japanese elementary school with my sensei. It was a day of firsts for me.
First, it was the first time I was in a Japanese School.
It was also the first time I was wearing slippers....in any school.
And, it was the first time I was attending an English elementary class in Tokyo....in slippers.
And, it was the first time (and hopefully the last time) I was asked this question:
"Sumimasen, (excuse me)," a student asked me.
"Hai," I answered. I was very proud to use my Japanese.
"Are you a Mommy or a Mummy?"
Turkey lesson
I actually wasn't sure what to do. It's always the same question when I go shopping. Carry it or ship it? Carry it or ship it? On the one hand, I really should carry it home. Why risk not getting it on time? This was the very reason I had left my home early this morning. This is the very reason I took 4 trains to get here. This is the reason I measured my oven before coming here and brought my tape measure with me. This is the reason I yelled, "Yokatta!" (great!) in the middle of Costco (or Costoco, as they call it here). This is why I had a huge smile. I had heard from other foreigners that Costco had frozen turkeys for the holiday season, so I had traveled by several trains and grabbed one of the last birds.
And, now, I had to figure out how to get Tom home.
Carry it or ship it?
"Carry it," I said to the clerk. "I'll carry it home." I patted Tom on the back.
The clerk stared at me. My friend whispered to me. "I'm not so sure your supposed to carry a frozen turkey on the subway," she said, "unless maybe you disguise it in a Gucci shopping bag." My friend was right. There are a lot of signs in the Tokyo subway showing subway manners. There are signs with picture cues illustrating how to stand in the train; how to hold your backpack; how to stow your over sized bag; how to move over to make room for other passengers; how to avoid getting fingers and feet stuck in the door; and, I think, how to drink a beer with Hideki Matsui. But I had never seen a picture in the subway of a happy woman carrying a frozen turkey.
"Ship it," I said.
Japanese lessons
Try saying "atatakakunakatta" (it wasn't warm) correctly three times fast.
If you can do it, I am pretty sure you win a beer with Matsui.
