Living abroad at different times in my life has enabled me to have so many unique and eye-opening experiences. Although some of them have been “special” in a bad way, most have just been special.
Case in point: that creature in the photograph above. Soon after I started my new job, a coworker took me on a scenic drive to get some ice cream and we ended up at this small little log cabin in the middle of nowhere. The people who run it keep a pony in a meadow nearby, and since we’re in Japan, it’s a miniature one. Before my arrival in this country, I would have never expected to see something so rustic here, and the setting sun gave this bucolic scene an even more storybook feeling.
Later that week, something else took me completely by surprise on the bus to D2 (a kind of Japanese Home Depot). I asked an old lady for directions, trying desperately to overcome the fact that I speak no intelligible Japanese. She shook her head in confusion and we just sort of sat awkwardly in silence, side by side, for the next ten minutes. All of a sudden, she began to rummage through her shopping bags in a frenzy. Finally, she pulled out a nice bento she had just gotten from the grocery store. She turned to me and offered it as a gift. I smiled and politely said “no” a couple times, but she kept pushing it toward me with these kind eyes. So, I took it. Then, I sat there for a few minutes with a tray of fish and rice on my lap.
It dawned on me that I should give her something in return, but I had nothing on my person worthy of her generosity. As I flipped through my planner, pretending to check my schedule, I came across a motley collection of unused passport photos. I knew it was a weird thing to offer, but I couldn’t just take her dinner and run! So, I shyly handed her this picture of my face, hoping that she wouldn’t be offended or think I was some sort of narcissistic freak. To my relief, she smiled, nodded, and murmured something before clutching it with both hands and examining it for the remainder of the ride. I got off at her stop, spotted the furniture store, bowed, and said “domo arigato” several times. I was oddly sad when we parted ways. It felt like the right time for a hug, but again, we didn’t know each other. She could, however, take my picture out of her wallet and show it to you sometime if you ask her nicely.
