People in my Neighborhood

There was a time last year when I was the most fearsome creature in all of Ehime. I would walk down the street in my town and the neighbors (with the exception of the softball team and the Shinto priest) would immediately look straight down at their feet and walk past me as quickly as possible, presumably to avoid any awkward English conversations.

Luckily, due to a combination of factors including my growing pop star fame* and the fact that I speak a little Japanese, I no longer appear to strike fear into the hearts of my neighbors, so we're getting to know each other a little better.

Last week, I was talking to Tyler for a minute outside of our Japanese teacher's house when I noticed this older man staring at us from across the street. I bowed to him and expected him to nod back and keep walking, but a few seconds later, he strode right up to us, whipped out his camera, and ordered us to pose so that he could take pictures of us and finish off his roll of film. After he had finished with his camera, he apparently had a thing or two he wanted to tell us, and proceeded to give a lengthy (~30 minute) lecture on topics including orchids, film cameras, old-school vacuum tube speakers, the war in Iraq, and his personal collection of fake American rifles. I don't think I ever quite understood what the point of all this was, but it was entertaining.

After I extricated myself from the man's lecture and said goodbye to Tyler, I walked back towards my apartment, and two minutes later, found myself being waved towards the cigarette vending machine** on the corner next to my apartment. An elderly lady from down the street was standing there, and she told me that she needed to buy cigarettes for her son but didn't know how to use the vending machine. She thrust a thousand yen bill into my hand and asked me to figure out the machine, so I helped her buy a couple packs. It wasn't until she thanked me and walked off down the street that it hit me -- she had been talking to me in mad Japanese the whole time like she didn't even notice that I was a foreigner. Perhaps I am starting to blend in...or perhaps she was just really frustrated with the vending machine.


* I sang in front of a pretty big crowd at the American Idolish singing contest last month, which was great fun. Unfortunately, I didn't place this time, but I did win an honorable mention coffee gift certificate from the judges. Also, at dinner after the contest, this random lady came up to me in the restaurant, told me she enjoyed my song, and gave me a box of fruit jelly. :D

** Yes, they sell cigarettes in vending machines here. I can't quite figure out why they even bother to make cigarettes illegal until you turn 20...