(August 25, 2011)
I am in love with life again. It’s taken some time, heaps (one of a number of New Zealand slang words I’m adopting) of energy, and the patient presence of a lot of wonderful people I hope to introduce you to over the coming months. But it’s happened, and it’s happening, and I couldn’t be happier.
There was an epic thunderstorm at Mochigase Junior High today.* I say “at” my school because it literally hovered over the building for about thirty minutes – booming and flashing and pouring. A few female teachers in the staffroom seemed genuinely afraid, but I could not contain my glee. Sensing my poorly-concealed excitement, Uegami-sensei, the gentle soul who last week taught me my colours, calmly began a lesson on thunder (kaminari), lightning (inazuma) and rain (ame), after which I half-enthused, half-mumbled (with the help of my pocket dictionary, of course), “kaminari ga suki des!” (I love thunder!)
This, of course, was met with a variety of exclamations that I can’t yet translate but have come to recognize as a combination of approval and disbelief (the same sort of reaction I get upon affirming that I can eat sushi). It also got Naoki-sensei - a lean, crusty, greying social studies teacher and baseball coach who, I learned the other night at my staff enkai**, speaks passable English when he’s had a few and who is going to become my best friend but doesn’t know it yet – chanting “rolling thunder” and “you are my sunshine” until I eventually broke down and sang a few lines. More exclamations and approval. If I ever wrap my head around this language for real, they’ll probably organize a parade.
Aside from possibly the best thunder and some of the warmest colleagues I’ve yet to know, I also had the most fantastic supper. Nothing fancy – spaghetti in a garlic-y tomato sauce with eggplant and broccoli, a piece of bizarre but delicious green tea bread from Hello’s, the neighbourhood bakery, and a glass of grape juice. But considering that it’s been nearly four weeks since I’ve had anything tomato-ey (aside from an actual tomato offered by my Singaporian big brother “Momma” that I devoured like an apple), it was just what I wanted. Also, it was the first proper meal*** I’ve cooked in this apartment, so it was kind of a big deal.
All in all, a very good day.
*As seems to be the case in Japan, the whole thing came out of nowhere. Sure, it was gray and overcast beforehand, but also cooler and not nearly as humid as my first few weeks here. So, I figured “daijobu” (no problem) and headed out in the morning without any of the four umbrellas the previous tenant left me. Thankfully, it stopped as abruptly as it started, and by the time I left school to catch my 4:07 pm train home, the worst was over.
**For now, let’s call it a party, and leave it at that.
***I will wax poetic on the infinite joys of eating out at another time.
