If you think window shopping isn't fun, you've never been to Japan.
My host family and I made an entire day of just hanging out at the mall. We bought some food and I bought a few "omiyage" (presents for people back home), but all in all we just looked and played and walked around.
The downside of that glorious trip was the holy hell of traffic we braved to get in and out. It took us about two hours to get from our parking spot to the outside of the parking garage.
Yes, I wish I had made that up.
That's the spirit behind this article, though. Japan is busy and constantly full of people, but you do what you have to do to have fun. You will have a good time if you make choices you like. You don't sweat the small stuff. At least, not when you're part of a family with kids. Can't speak for Japanese working people who sprint along to catch the train in the middle of the night, but still.
"Fune" means ship or boat, so... whatever floats your fune, right?
The day after the mall trip, I went to school to learn about the computer system, cafeteria outline and city layout.
Every morning starts with a big breakfast. Big breakfasts are very important and Saeko's hobby is cooking, so there's always amazing food to eat. Then I leave, lock up and go to the train. I take a train to school every day.
There's this great thing in Japan called PASMO. When you buy a commuter pass, they stamp it with your home station and your school or work's station. You pay a flat fee for either a month or three months and can travel anywhere between those two stations as many times as you want during the month without incurring additional charges at those stations. You can also load it with money and use it like a debit card for any other transportation you do, as well as at vending machines, certain shops and the like.
Every Monday the boys have an English lesson with a man from Finland. I wanted to watch. I will be applying to teach English in Japan, after all. It was... loud. The kids mostly just screamed and played with each other, but there was some serious learning going on, too. I'm glad I went.
The oldest boy is still relatively interested in my boobs, legs and clothes. He is brave and talks constantly, sometimes in English. The littlest boy still slurs his words so it's harder for me to understand him. He's a bit shyer.
That said, Hiroto and Atsuto have had a white chick from America live in their house before. This is their second time, but Japanese kids are often terrified of foreigners. Japan is very racially homogeneous. Sometimes kids get frightened seeing a foreigner because they're used to everyone sharing their race. I experienced this when my host mom's friend Yoko-Chan came over with her two little boys, Tomoyo and Souta. Both hid behind her for quite some time and wouldn't talk to me.
The trick is to keep smiling and tell them they can speak as much Japanese as they want, because you can understand them. Presents also help a lot. They were over for dinner, so I brought it to the table for them. The next time I saw them (yes, they came twice this week) I had brought little whipped cream pastries I saw at the mall. Give a kid a treat and they don't care what color you are. I promise. It also helps that I haven't had homework yet. I get to sit and play on the floor with my host brothers every night.
Yoko-Chan is also pregnant "nipu" right now. If you weren't aware, I love babies. Her baby is due two days after I leave. Two. Freaking. Days. I told her I hoped the baby would come just a little early so I could meet them. She said there's a good chance. She doesn't know what sex the baby will be and hasn't picked out a name. She wants everything to be a surprise.
The next day was a school day, but all we had to do was a welcome party and a Japanese class orientation. We made "onigiri" (rice balls, sorry I didn't translate last time folks) and played games of telephone in Japanese. Talk about difficult. Like, you thought telephone made stupid words come out of people's mouths in English? Yeah, not even the same ballpark. When an apple "ringo" becomes a dingo and a dingo becomes a "tingo" (what even is that?) you gotta hope that someone knows how to fix it.
A friend from the program named Grace and I hung out around Kawagoe mall for a few. I bought a little scent diffuser (they're super popular in Japan and highly functional). I also brought the boys my favorite LUSH bath bomb. The little one was initially horrified. "This is a little scary," he mumbled as he moved as far as physically possible away from the ball. In the end both of them enjoyed it very much. Especially the sparkles.
The next day was a day off for me. With some exceptions, I have Wednesdays off from school. I woke up, had breakfast with the boys and waited for Saeko to come back from taking them to Kindergarten. In Japan, Kindergarten is like preschool. It's not elementary school and it's not required, either. When she came back, we took a walk to city hall. Then we were told we would need to go to a different city hall to get the health insurance card I needed. We walked all the way home before driving to the correct spot. The weather was so beautiful, though. When we got home, Saeko took a nap up until the boys came home. We played together and then went out to dinner.
Eating out in Japan is an experience. It's entirely unlike eating out in the states. You don't order at once. You get a tab like at a bar. You order little, tiny bits of food as you go. You are provided with towels to wash your hands at the table. You devour pork, chicken, rice, vegetables and -- wait, just kidding. That's the same. That night I learned I am totally okay with eating weird parts of chickens as long as they are put on a stick and grilled. We came home, had some ice cream and went to bed.
The next day marked the first day of Japanese class.
It is so. Incredibly. Easy.
Even the teachers agreed that I was speaking and listening too well for the class I was in. The orientation person for the classes refused to switch me. I like the people in my class, so I think I'm going to enjoy taking it slow and easy. For lunch, we went across the street to a gyoza (dumpling/wonton) restaurant. I can get 12 gyoza, a ton of rice, miso soup and some pickled vegetables for about $5.50 USD. That's dangerous, as far as I'm concerned. We moved on to Kawagoe shopping street and glanced around at stores until it was time for the usual -- dinner, play and sleep.
Japanese class, curry lunch at the cafeteria and a little window shopping is becoming routine, so I'll spare those details from now on.
The next night (the night I brought pastries) was the best. Four adults (including me) and 6.5 (including the pregnant tummy) kids. We had dinner and dessert and looked at baby pictures and wedding pictures and just had a blast. All the kids stopped being scared of me. We played hard.
What have I learned? Just do whatever floats your fune. If you're commiting a major "mewaku," or disruption of harmony, someone will tell you.
