April 6th-Moshi moshi!
Yes, that’s what I said! “Moshi moshi!” Well, you’re probably wondering what that is. Well, that’s what Japanese people say when they answer the phone! Now, why would I be talking about this? Well, it’s because one of my lifetime dreams came true today. Which one? Noooo…not to drive the gold-plated rocket car! The dream that came true today was to own a Japanese cell phone! OOOOOHHHH YEAAAHHH!!! AHHHAHAHHAHAHAHHA!!!! I finally did it! Ahhh…it’s been a long, long, long road, but like so many other things in my life, I have finally arrived…. Well…instead of starting in the middle, let’s start at the beginning of my first full day in Miyazaki.
When I woke up mid-morning (around 9:45am), the sun was beaming through the shades onto my pillow. I pushed the blinds away and looked out the window at a gorgeous day. It really looked like summer, but when I opened the window (next to my bed) to stick my head out, it felt like a perfect spring day (which is what it was). When I came downstairs we had breakfast together and then a little while later, Dad’s sister, who lives in the neighborhood, came over and we all sat in the living room on the floor with the sliding door to the garden open—the spring air blowing in and the birds chirping in the garden. She had a lot of questions for me, most of them I was able to answer without much trouble. How would I describe the way I was feeling at the time…it was very much like, I think, the way I felt when I woke up on my first full day in Nanao 18 months ago. It was a beautiful day, and everything seemed like a blank slate—like I could make anything of the day and of my time here to come. I didn’t have that bad feeling in my chest…that feeling of urgency or tenseness or the feeling that I need to be somewhere or complete something by a certain time. I was feeling that way a lot in the weeks leading up to my departure and it was getting worse the closer and closer I got to leaving (especially with the war starting a week before I left). Anyway, it was nice and I felt liberated and relaxed. After sipping tea and eating little tea cookies for a little while, I went out with Mom and Dad to do a little shopping. We got some doughnuts, stuff for the garden, and we went to an electronics store to get….my phone.
I’m sorry if the whole issue of me getting this cell phone is not as interesting or engaging as the descriptions of some of my other exploits, but, as I’m sure you can tell, it’s important to me. It seemed kind of surreal and unreal as we walked into the store where there were some tables set up with people selling J-Phone, Docomo, and AU (the three biggest cellular providers in Japan) products and plans. My host father talked to the people for a little while to see if I could just getting the thing for 4 months and how much it’d cost etc etc. He asked me if I wanted to get it today and I wasn’t sure what to say. What can I compare this to…? Hmmm…maybe it was like someone telling you, “Don’t bother studying for the SATs, give ETS a few bucks, and they’ll give you a 1600.” Did that make sense? I don’t think so. What I’m trying to say, is that something that I’d be looking into and looking forward to for so long and had always seemed so far away was now so close and everyone around me was so lax about it all as if we had just come in here on a whim to get a phone. Even though I told my host parents that it has been my dream Since July 20th, 2001, to own a J-Phone, I don’t think they quite understood the depth of what I was trying to tell them. At any rate, this phone is probably the most delightful thing I have ever exchanged money for to obtain. I could have simply leased the phone from J-Phone but I wanted to keep it as a souvenir after I came back (even though its calling and mailing capabilities will be rendered useless). There are SO many things this little wonder can do. I can’t even get into them all because it boggles the mind. Ya know what you can do though? Go to the Contact Me page of this website and you will see a link to the J-Phone website that has info on my phone and pics of it. Yes, it’s in English so don’t worry. Also, on that page you will find my phone’s e-mail address and my phone number in case you really wanna talk to me. Actually…I haven’t talked to anyone on the phone yet. I’ve just sent a bunch of e-mails. Don’t get me wrong, that’s FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN, but I wanna talk to someone. Who can I call….?
Anyway, that was fantastic and I thanked my host parents profusely for helping me get the thing (even though I will be paying for all of it of course). Well, in this venture, I spared no expense and when my dad was telling me how much it would cost (so much for this…so much for this…etc etc) I was like, “hehehe..ki ni shinai. Daijyoubu daijyoubu” (heheheh…I don’t care. It’s ok, it’s ok). Let’s see, what else did we do? We ate doughnuts and all had dinner together. Then we watched a TV program that was pretty funny. Basically what it was where half a dozen people playing a game of kick the can against several dozen people. The game covered the entire city of Tokyo and the cans were located in parks and places like that. It was pretty entertaining and I was able to follow what was going on pretty much. Let’s see what other crazy stuff I can get myself into tomorrow. But let’s think about that for a sec…I’ve been in this town for like not even 1 whole day and I’ve already accomplished something and I only dreamed about before. Awesome! I wish I could do that every day. Well…tomorrow is another day!
-Maikeru