Day Three: Of Nodding and Wandering

I think Otosan and Okasan are beginning to think of me as the creepy ghost they willingly let into their home. I have this rather nasty habit of not making enough noise when entering a room, so no one knows I’m there until they happen to look up. Picture this: You’re standing in the kitchen making tea and watching the cup to make sure it doesn't spill. In the next room, you can hear your husband typing on his computer. Everything is quiet. You know the girl you’re taking care of should be up soon, but you don’t know exactly when. That is when you look up and see the aforementioned girl standing in the doorway. You’re unsure of exactly how long she has been there, but her deer-in-the-headlights look tells you she’s been there for a solid minute at least. You want to tell her to announce her presence next time; however, because you are a kind person, you just smile and wish her good morning.

Does that seem a little creepy? I think it does. At any rate, after my usual ghost act, Otosan took me for a brief visit to the Middle School and High School. On the way there, he taught me a simple Japanese greeting to say to the teachers. That greeting is as follows:

Konnichiwa (Hello. I’m going to awkwardly half-bow in your direction because I have no idea what the heck I’m doing)

Hajimemashite (It’s nice to meet you. Please excuse the hesitant head-bob and pretend you didn't see it. That will be easier on all of us)

Watashi wa Serina desu (I am called Serina. It may or may not be obvious at this point that I only have a loose idea of what I’m saying)

Yoroshiku-onegaisimasu (Please remember me. I will bow deeper this time, almost smack foreheads with you, and remember why I’d opted for the half-bow in first place)

After using the introduction in both schools, I went on a short car trip to drop some things off at Aiako-san’s house. Then I had some free time before going back to the high school again at four. So, I decided to go for a walk to the 7 Eleven-type place and maybe buy a few things. I’d watched very carefully which direction, and was confident in my ability to make it there and back.

I think I spent nearly half an hour wandering through the store looking at things. In the end, I opted for a box of Pocky, a mechanical pencil (forgot to bring one), lead for the pencil, and a black notebook to use in school. I managed to pay with no problems, despite the fact that I had no idea what the woman at the till was saying. I just smiled and nodded a lot, thanking her when she passed me the bag.

I walked out of the store and felt a brief surge of panic when I felt disoriented, but I looked around, mentally calculated, and remembered which way to go. Everything was going great until it came to which street to turn down. My mind just totally blanked. I had absolutely no idea where to go. Fighting panic, I told myself that it would be okay, if I honestly couldn't find my way, I would use the cell Otosan lent me to call and ask. That would look very pathetic of me; since chances were I was only a couple of streets away, but if it came down to it…

I told myself that it wouldn't, and started looking. My thought process as I walked along went something like this: Oh, there are the characters on the road I told myself to watch for! No…this isn't’t right. Never mind. Oh, I see. The words are on every street. Great. Just great. Okay. Don’t panic. There’s a yellow bag! The street had a yellow bag. Nope. Not right either. Crap, all the streets have yellow bags. Stop staring! I’m not lost! I can feel your eyes judging me! Oh, post lady. Maybe I should ask her… No. Too scary. Uh-oh. She’s glancing at me. She probably thinks I’m stalking her. That’s okay, I’m sure this street is right anyway. Shiznits. It’s not. Right. Now I’m following her. Aaand she’s looking at me again. This is, like, the third street I've followed her down. Haven’t I seen those boys before? Crap, I am so lost…

This went on for a while until I finally managed to locate the right street. The sad part? It was the first one. Through some cruelty of fate, I’d just kept skipping over it for the last half-hour. But at least I was back and none the worse for wear. In fact, I was back just in time to head out for the high school again. We took the car this time because it had begun raining at some point, and I had to use my greeting on a few more people, including an entire class. Now that was terrifying. They all just looked at me with wide eyes and I had a tough time preventing myself from staring back with obvious fear.

I was also introduced to the principal, and had my picture taken with him and some other teachers. He had a rather lengthy discussion with Otosan about something or other. About halfway through, I realized that everyone was nodding except me. In a desperate attempt to blend in, I started nodding along as well, until I realized that everyone there knew I didn't speak Japanese and if I nodded too, it would be obvious that I was just nodding for the heck of it. Either that or they’d think I actually spoke Japanese, something that would definitely cause me problems later on.

I stopped nodding.

Before leaving, we stopped by the chorus club in the music room. I think this was to give me an idea of what clubs are like. This was basically my first introduction to other kids my age. There were several girls and two boys in the club, and they were all very friendly. They introduced themselves and the girls complimented the pink ends of my hair. Then they performed a song for us. It was beautiful, and they harmonized their voices perfectly. After we’d applauded, one girl came forward with her iPhone and asked if she could have a picture. I agreed and we all crowded in front of the piano, making peace signs (a popular pose in in Japan among girls, I believe). It was incredible to me how accurate anime is in terms of the school design and even basic behavior. Honestly, the whole thing had me a little hyped up. When Otosan said they were going to the public baths and asked if I wanted to go, I said yes without fully realizing what I’d just agreed to.

The public baths, well, they’re literally public baths; this means you need to- how to put this delicately- wear your birthday suit. Prior to actually entering the baths, I felt like the stupidest person ever, just standing there in a slight panic with my towel. But it was actually a pretty nice experience. My biggest issue was figuring out where to look, but compared to the warm water and the fact that there weren't too many people there, this wasn't much of a problem.

 And yes, the outdoor baths looked just like they do in anime.