I Have a Pair of White Lacy Panty Socks

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

As I've said time and time again, things are getting better but still at a snails pace. This past week has been pretty good and a lot of things have happened that I wanted to write about but I just haven't gotten around to it.

First of all, this week at work has been an immense help. Last Thursday, I pretty much freaked out and told my supervisor that I wanted less work. She looked at me like I was crazy (in a polite, Japanese, stoic sort of way) Friday I had off (as I wrote about) and the weekend happened (get to that later). Midterms were this week so I didn't go to Oodochi and instead I went to Tosayamada where for these past three days I have been sitting at my desk getting all the work done that I have wanted to do for a long time. I now have basic lesson plans for the next few weeks and I feel much better about the whole thing in general. Also, since I have internet at home now…wow, that's a whole other topic.

I got internet for 15 minutes on Monday and that's clearly not long enough to get reacquainted with my dear old friend (my best friend, my lover, my one and only, my computer) but going to work on Monday (besides not having classes) just felt so much better. I just felt so much more calm and organized. Just the IDEA of having internet sent such a wave of relief through me. I had no idea that it would be that strong of a reaction. I was actually thinking that once I got the internet I would realize that all my problems are not going to go away mystically….but they did, and then some!

Also, last night was the first time that I spoke to my mom on the phone. I thought that email was pretty good and once I actually got her on the phone, I was afraid there wouldn't be anything to talk about because I wrote so much on this blog! (long long pages! Sorry guys) but I ended up talking at her for about 2 1/2 hours. It was 8:30pm here and 7:30am there. She put me on speaker phone and just let me talk away. It felt so good to speak fast and just go on and on about all the things on my mind to someone who thinks the same way I do. To someone who understands me completely!!! AH I can't wait until I get to talk to all my other friends! But this time difference thing is making it quite difficult. Poo

So anyway, back to the weekend. So, when last we left Nina in her adventures, she was on her way to have dinner with Sayuri. She was tired and sick since she had been so unkind to her stomach the day earlier.

Sayuri picked me up and it was the first time that I felt uncomfortable being quiet. In America, if I was sitting next to someone in a car I always got a little uncomfortable if no one was talking. Not so much when I was driving but just in general, I always felt awkward. Here, however, since it takes so much effort to have conversations that usually involve reading a dictionary, I've really gotten over that silence thing. However, when I got in the car with Sayuri, I really felt like we should have been talking.

I think my feelings were that we should be talking because we should become good friends…kinda. I'm not sure exactly. Basically it stems down to that she invited me out for no real reason which is strange in the ALT Gaijin world. So maybe she was expecting something from me...

Allow me to explain:

Adam and I had a long discussion about why it is so difficult for ALTs to make Japanese friends (people who are not ALTs themselves and Japanese people who are not obsessed with learning English, both of which make good friends but do not promote Japanese living and language learning) In normal situations, when people meet for the first time a couple of things can happen. 1. They hate each other and agree to never call one another. 2. They get along but nothing so special that they would hang out again without a specific reason or invitation 3. they get along so well that they exchange numbers and become best friends. Hanging out all the time.

In the ALT world, it's difficult to do anything more than #2. The language and culture barrier makes it really difficult to hit it off with someone to the point that they want to see you all the time and hang out just for enjoying the other persons company. Usually, when you meet someone, they find you interesting because you're gaijin and you're probably full of fun facts and adventures (and who are we kidding, my life is totally interesting!!!) but there is no real way to express all of this because of the wall that is dividing the two people. So, you hang out with this friend when you want to go somewhere like a movie or a bar but you don't call them just to chat or hang out. Usually, there needs to be some sort of entertainment to keep the friendship going otherwise it because difficult and awkward.

Which is why I was surprised that Sayuri invited me to dinner. To her, I am just another person but to me, she is very important because she is the only girl friend I have made who is my age and not another ALT. I don't think she realizes that since most people don't. But she invited me nonetheless and I wasn't going to say no.

She picked me up and we went to an apartment*. Once there, things were a little bit awkward at first. There were two other girls there and pretty much no one knew any English which is very good for me, though difficult most of the time. I have been learning that if I want things to work better, I need to do it myself. I can't wait around for someone to invite me to talk. I used to know this in America...oh GOD did I know this in America. But in Japan, things are much more difficult. I can't just start a conversation so easily. So I've ended up relearning to do simple things like be personable which is something I never had a problem with before!

As the evening went on, we got along better and better. Conversation was going, though bumpily. It was nice because it was just the three of us hanging out. Nothing more. Then a few more people showed up and again, it was just hanging out with friends. It was such a nice and relaxing feeling.

Actually, people kept coming all throughout the night. It just kept getting better. I ended up going home before 11 and there was no drinking or craziness and it was really nice. *ahhh I need more days like that :)

*this apartment. Hmmmmm interesting tid bits there. So, I knew that the apartment wasn't Sayuri's. I assumed it was one of the girls that was at the apartment when I got there. In Japan, when someone goes into a home that is not their own that always say "I'm sorry for intruding". However, Sayuri didn't say that. And no one else who came in said that. It was strange because no one announced they had walked in. None of them even rang the doorbell! They just…came in. So I asked who's apartment it was. They said "everyones".

Alright, over the course of the night I learned that all of these people were Amway people. Apparently, they all pay a little bit for the rent of this apartment…there were about 11 people by the end of the night too! As I looked around, I noticed that it was obvious that no one lived there and all the products and gadgets that were there were all Amway!!!

Sayuri tried to get me interested in some of her products but when she saw that I wasn't really interested she kinda dropped it.

I really like these people. They are so nice and they really seem like friends that I could get used to having around. But this brings me back to the reason why I'm there in the first place. Why did Sayuri invite me? Was it because she wanted to sell me stuff? Was it because she really thinks I'm an interesting person and wants me around just for my company? Does she want me to join Amway?

I don't know. I'm hoping to bypass all of this business stuff and make friends with them and their friends and their friend's friends. I want nothing to do with Amway. I just want friends. So where do I draw the line?

I don't know. But I'm going to continue hanging out with these people. If the Amway stuff persists then I'll think about a different strategy. Until then, I'll keep on keepin' on!

Oh right! The title! So, I have found the joy of these little lacy socks that everyone seems to wear around here. There is something about Japanese women and lace that I just don't understand. But these socks are like really nice knee highs that don't go up past my heel! I hate pantie hoes and this totally eliminated the need for them! I tried one pair out. They were the most simple black lace I could find. I fell in love so last night I bought a few more. The one's I'm wearing now are white and can be seen outside my shoes. I feel like my white lacy panties are showing or something! Oooo scandalous!

3 shared their love:

Anonymous said...

You know, I built that lover of yours; I'm so sad he's still collecting dust.

Anonymous said...

pictures?? I remeber the white socks that where a meter long. Do they still wear those?

Kimi said...

Give me a phone number I will call you!!!!

 
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