Japandamonium!!!

“Atsui!” says Mami-chan as she comes into the office.

She’s not kidding; today’s a scorcher, and the ride in this morning was grueling enough that Taeko-san saw me and brought me to the showers before I even had a chance to step into the office (why didn’t they show me there were showers before? I’ve spent the last two weeks sopping the sweat off me with a grody towel and trying to get as much of my body as possible to fit into the tiny wind-tunnel automatic hand dryer in the men’s bathroom). The shower was fantastic–actually my first one in a few days–and by this point it’s several hours later and I’ve reached a nicely air-conditioned level of general equilibrium comfort, but I agree, letting the first syllable roll around in the gravelly bottom of my throat for emphasis: “Atsui neh!” I add, “and tired,” with a short smile.

“Taiyado?”

I nod yes. It’s been a long weekend, coming back from Matsuyama orientation in poor shape and then helping with the O-Bon festival in town, and a surprise drinking party and a missed fishing trip to really bring me well past that critical exhaustion point. Mami asks me a question in Japanese that I don’t understand, so she translates: “but yesterday, many many sleep desu yo?” “Yes,” I tell her, “but today I need many many more.”
Even after the mingled raucusness and irrelaxation of the past few days I’m happy to be at work again. Today and tomorrow are likely to be my last two days at GreenPier, the Board of Ed office. I know it can’t really be called that, but whatever it is called sounds just like GreenPier when I hear it so that’s what it’s called for me; it’s probably Kyurinpiyaa or Gurinpiyaa, but I hear GreenPier and when I say it to someone they know what I’m talking about, and that’s good enough for me. Wednesday I go back to Matsuyama to begin a language course that lasts until the end of the month, and after that is September and teaching, so I’ll be based in the schools: no more GreenPier. And TEACHING! Aah! Aahh!

I’m sure it will all be great, but I’ll miss it in this office; especially Taeko-san, who has totally been becoming my mother-away-from-mother. It’s unbelievable to me and completely endearing how much she is taking me under her wing. We totally bonded doing the dancing lessons from school to school leading up to the Bondori. I think that especially because I’m her son’s age she feels really inclined to looking after me. Almost every day she’ll give me some new food to try, and she always tells me what it is in Japanese and she’s always really proud of me when I can write it down correctly, and she gets especially happy when I like it, which I do almost all the time. I wish I could describe stuff more than “oishii,” which is what almost everything is. “Delicious!”
Today’s treat is called Ichi-roku Taruto. It’s a really sweet yummy cake thing like a bit of sponge cake wrapped around some very sweet and kind of minty/spicy red bean paste. It’s exactly the right kind of yummy to go perfectly with tea. These should get shipped to England to be the new afternoon tea craze; they’d be perfect with some Earl Grey. Gray? Grey? Got me. But these little cakes are scrumptious.

My favorite so far has been the Tetsumaimo (I think it was called that) which was a spicy warm purple-on-the-outside/yellow-on-the-inside sweet potato. Taeko san makes me repeat the names of things a lot, and then later she’ll point to it and say, “what is it?” and when I say “Tetsumaimo!” she just glows, proud and content and motherly. It’s like she’s taught me how to tie my shoes or do my multiplication tables. She’ll even tell other people about my daily accomplishments, and then make me tell them too. “Kacho-san! Joshu-san tried a new food today! Joshu-san, tell Kacho-san what you tried. Did you like it? Kacho san, ask Joshu-san if he liked it. Was it the first time you had it?” “Abe-san, Joshu-san and I went and taught dancing today at two different schools. Joshu-san, tell Abe-san which schools we went to. Abe san, ask Joshu if he’s good at the dancing. Oh, he’s just being shy, he’s very good at the dancing.” It is completely awesome. I am her four year old child. I can’t wait to learn more Japanese so I can be like her ten-year old child, and then she can take me to little league practice and things. Once there was a really delicious thing that someone else had grown and prepared that Taeko san gave me to eat, and I wrote the other person a thank-you note for it, and Taeko san showed everyone in the office, who were all obliged to admire me as they would any child of a proud mother.
I like being especially gentlemanly to Taeko san to keep some sense of equilibrium in the relationship; give and take. Of this she is always a mixture of delighted and scandalized and proud. Today she came with Takatomo-san and I on the lunch run and I held the car door open for her; as I came around to my door I looked to see her leaning over to Takatomo to explain: very confidential she tells him, “ladies first!,” and nods once as she says it, smiling ever so much and only to herself. Once I get my place set up I’ll invite her over for some kind of American food I can figure out how to cook up here. I think that would be really nice. There’s a place called Baron’s that sells imported foodstuffs (and lots of imported alki) and if they have Bisquick there then I’ll be in business big time. Otherwise omelletts or french toast, grilled cheese and milkshakes, who knows.

I'll miss Takatomo san too. He’s been the designated “take Josh to buy lunch at the grocery” guy for the last week or so, and it’s been a fun daily routine. We go to the A-Coop (pronounced Cope) and get soba or yogurt or a croque (which is exactly like a knish, and has totally become New Yorky comfort food since I figured it out), and we always have a really good time. He drives a really cool Jeepy kind of car that’s loaded with tiny stuffed animals which he says are for his brother’s daughter (but I know better). Takatomo san seems like he’d be fun to go hit the town with; I think he’d be a fun wingman for bar hopping or other otherwise funning it up.He’s single too so I bet I could bring him to have fun with some some of the gaijin girls I’ve met; they’re all complaining that Japanese guys are not only less available but way less attractive than the J-girls are, and Takatomo’s both so everyone should be happy. When I asked him if he had a girlfriend he blushed bright red and said “no no no” in his sheepish voiceless whisper. Hazakashi, I guess.