...because it`s not cold in Japan. We thought the つゆwas over, but it started raining again. My companion came from the つゆlast transfer, so I guess it`s following her. Great. For the record, she is not Hispanic. I told her that my dad thought she was and she rolled her eyes. She is full bred American, as far as she knows. She just has some darker skin. Perhaps she has Native American blood, who knows.
She`s ぺたぺた as the phrase goes. That means she`s good at Japanese. So people play the 何人 game with her. That means they spend an hour guessing what ethnicity she is from instead of just asking her. The most popular answer is Okinawan. Nope. But she does look pretty cool in a kimono, doesn`t she? I hope to go to a different dollar store soon to get a converter for my SD Card. At the end of this email I`ll see if I can borrow my companion`s converter - if she remembered to bring it. I`m not 日本人 enough to take pictures at every moment of the day, but I do have a few cute ones I think. I know you`ll appreciate it.
Is the Japanese appearing on your screen in Gmail? It`s really fun to type in Japanese, because you type in in romanji, then it figures out the hiragana, then you push the space bar and it tells you the possible kanji you could be trying to use. Yep. It`s pretty smart.
I`m also training my pinky to go next to the P key to get the ` symbol. Is that all working on your end? Good luck with translating the random 日本語の言葉 I`m throwing into the middle of this.
I have a mission for the two of you. Go to DI and find me another skirt or two. The favorite skirt that I brought is randomly from DI.
It`s hard to ride a bike in a skirt. Well, it`s hard to ride a mountain bike in a skirt. I have different categories my skirts fall into. The skirts I can`t really ride a bike in, the skirts I can`t wear in the wind, and the skirts that are okay. The skirts in the last category are from DI. They are the most boring knit fabric you can think of. They don`t poof out so they don`t get stuck in my brakes. Remember the skirts need to be long enough to hit my mid calf. Oh, and dark conservative colors are the best. I don`t think I can find a skirt my size in Japan. The people here just run in different sizes, you know? I asked my mission president`s wife about finding a skirt, and she`s not a small size. She said she ended up asking someone in America to mail it to her. So, that`s your mission.
Find me at least one new skirt. In the mean time, I`ve just been re-wearing skirts. I mean, the rain is just like washing it, right?
About my bike, I learned this week that your bike seat is supposed to be low enough that you can have the whole ball of your foot on the ground. Well, I`ve had it a little higher than that - the reason is that it`s easier to pedal when you don`t have to bend your legs as much. So I lowered my bike seat to be a proper biker, but my thighs started burning. A lot. But then my back stopped getting so sore every night. Now I think I`ll trade off and do the bike seat low until I can`t stand it any more. Yep. Me and my bike. I think I`m going to miss my bike like I`ve missed my car.
It`s funny to me to hear about Jim and Julie`s house changing. That house will forever be the same in my mind. It`s burned in my memory.
This week I had a gaijin moment. We were waiting at a red light and a gaijin turned the corner. He walked right on by, but he caught our eye and did the smile head nod thing. My companion right after was like, "you just had a gaijin moment, didn`t you?" Yep. It`s hard to explain. In that split second, we both understood that we`re weirdos in this weird Japanese world. It`s hard to explain. So to answer mom`s question, no, I don`t think I`m Japanese. I never will be.
Sometimes I think Japanese people are walking contradictions. For example, they are super health conscious. They eat the most disgusting foods, "because it`s good for you". When they are sick, they wear really funny looking face masks to keep them from spreading germs.
Yet, they don`t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. And when they do wash their hands, it`s really only with water. The toilets have water that comes down to fill the water tank behind the toilet, and they stick their hands under there for a minute to get them wet and then call them clean. Weird. Another example, is Japanese people are really quiet. I mean, the bus, subway, and who knows what else is completely silent. This Internet cafe, is silent.
My previous companion told me to be careful not to slam the door when we come home for the day. Yet, there are these vans that drive around with a microphone on top. I asked my companion, and she said election day is coming up soon. So they drive these really annoying vans around to promote whoever they`re supporting. I was like, what? Aren`t Japanese people quiet?
I`ll write more contradictions as I figure them out. Besides everything I wrote above, I can`t think of anything else. Dad, I think I will expect a scriptural metaphor in every email now. がんばって.
Love you,
Sarah
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