Musings

Westerners
There are not many Westerners in Isahaya. We can cause a stir when we're out and about, with children pointing and staring. Most people are very nice and polite to us, and old men, for some reason, are the talkers. A guy approached me in the supermarket the other day and asked if I was American. He asked me a bunch of questions that culminated in “how long are you here?”. I'm pleased because I think I know how to say eight months since I know “8” and “month” in Japanese, so I say “hachi gatsu”. He looks, and blinks a couple of times,and then bursts out laughing and says “but it’s September now, August was last month.” Too late I remember that August translates as ‘8th month’. Ah well, I still don’t know how to say 8 months.

We've met one other Western family since we've been here, the Bartletts, and they said that we and the Farlands (an IBM family here for the summer) were the only Westerners they've met in the three years they've lived in Isahaya. Prior to that they were in Tokyo for several years. They've been very good friends to us and our kids have gotten along great with their 12-year old son, Stuart. They've helped us out a great deal!


Plant Life
The flowers come in waves - we're seeing cosmos everywhere. I've heard that the cherry blossoms in the spring, then the azaleas are incredible. Recently, I noticed flowers called Higanbana blooming. Long stalks without many leaves, but a very pretty spidery, bright red flower. Apparantly, they are associated with the world after death, so they are also known as ghost flower or funeral flower. I read that children would be scolded if they brought them home. They are all over the place though because the bulbs are poisonous so they're planted near rice fields to keep out rats and moles. The funny thing is I notice cut Higanbana being sold in the grocery store. I didn't buy any.


Hair Cut
Dave comes home raving about his hair cut. They really know how to do it, he says - hot towels, head and shoulder massages, a shave with a blade, a skillful, thorough cut -- they wash your hair afterwards, which makes total sense because it gets rid of all the loose hair. I took Eric yesterday. He got the full treatment, minus the shave. So I thought - I gotta get in on this - so the barber sent me next door to his wife's hair salon. I settled in the chair waiting for the hot towel and massage and all I got was cold water squirted at my head with tuts over my knots and gray hair. On to a really awful cut and she didn't even wash my hair! I lost something in the translation. Dave says my humidity-induced frizzy curls frightened her.


How illiterates function
I’ve always wondered how illiterates can function in society. Now I know how they do it. My Japanese is limited to niceties and numbers, so when it comes to making purchases, I completely rely on pictures and what I know of products. So I buy the dish detergent that shows sparkly dishes. I buy the meal kit that shows a tea kettle pouring water, along with the envelope of stuff, into the meat. I tried to look for bleach based on the American looking bleach bottle, but here it’s a mint green bottle with a pink cap.