Comfort Zone

I went to the post office the other day to send home a box of stuff to help lighten the weight of my suitcases for my return flight. I carried it down the street to the small office, told them where to ship it and by what method, filled out the form, thanked them and left.

It wasn't until I was leaving that I realized how relaxed I'd been. I hadn't had an ounce of anxiety during the whole transaction. Even when my friend, who had previously agreed to mail her box at the same time, changed her mind, I just said "okay" and immediately went and mailed it alone.

This may not seem a big deal to you, but to me, it speaks volumes about how far I've come to adjusting to life here. In the spring, I sent home another box filled with winter clothing and omiyage for my family after I returned from Hokkaido. I was so nervous about using the post office, I put it off for three weeks! I was wracked by anxiety at having to make such a complicated transaction and filling out forms in Japanese that it took me weeks to build up the resolve to go.

Of course, much of my newfound ease can be attributed to my increased fluency. Even my professor, who also taught me last semester, remarked the other day about how much more talkative I am and how easy it is for her to understand me.

But more than that, I'm no longer anxious about making mistakes, about not understanding. I am still terrible at listening to employees and salespeople; I hear them, but my mind just doensn't process what they're saying. I have to seriously focus in order to dissect their keigo, which is a complicated grammatical pattern used in formal situations. I often have to ask them to repeat themselves, in which case they use gestures or perhaps a word of Engrish to convey their meaning. But I guess I'm just so used to this, it no longer deters me.

I've also been here so long that employees at the combeni and grocery stores I frequent interact with me. Usually it's about the weather, but the simple fact that they are trying to talk to me is very encouraging. It makes me feel like I've been accepted as part of the community, inspite of my being a foreignor.

Most people that I talked to before coming here told me it takes at least three months to gain fluency, so to go for just one semester doesn't make sense. By no means would I call myself fluent, but I definitely agree that one semester isn't enough. I mean, it took me half a year to use the post office without stressing out! More than just becoming fluent, staying abroad longer gives you more time to truly adjust to living in another culture. And only after I became more comfortable was I able to really appreciate Japanese lifestyles, instead of focusing just on how out of place I felt or how much I had to compromise my own lifestyle.

It's a shame, though, that just when I'm comfortable living here, I have to plan on coming home again. Only six weeks and I'll be back States-side! I'm really excited to return to my family and school, but I'm also sad. There are so many experiences here that I have to savour while I can, and important friends I may never see again. I'll just have to do my best to enjoy the rest of my time here with everyone.

Plus, I have a feeling that I'm going to get really bad reverse-culture shock when I go home >_<

Train Fail

Last Saturday, my sorority sister Heidi, who just graduated from CMU with a degree in architecture, arrived in Tokyo for a two week vacation, the first week being spent in Tokyo. This isn't an update about our fabulous time together (soon, don't worry!), but rather about how we both had really unfortunate, and just plain stupid, experiences on the train this week.

Monday is my least favorite day of the week because I have a really boring class during 5th period, so I never get home until about 7pm. This time, while riding the Den-en-toshi from Shibuya to my station of Sangenjaya, I put my book bag on the metal rack inside the train and spent the time thinking about all the fun stuff Heidi and I have planned for the week.

Completely distracted, I got off at my stop WITHOUT my book bag!

I didn't realize it until I was halfway up the stairs and the train was already pulling out. So I had to go to the ticket window and explain my predicament to the station employees in Japanese and give them a description of what I lost, where I'd placed it, etc. They made a call and told me to wait. Luckily, ten minutes later someone called to say they found it three stops down the line. The employees told me to get back on the train and go pick it up. So I went down to the platform and got on the train.

In the wrong direction.

I had to get off at Ikejiri-ohashi, go to the other side of the station, and get back on in the other direction.

After finally getting to the right station, collecting my bag, and returning to my own station and back to the dorm, it was 8pm :___( You'd think I'd be past making those kinds of mistakes by now! ばかだね。。。

But I'm not the only TriDelta who made a silly mistake on the trains this week ^^

Yesterday afternoon, I left Heidi in Harajuku and agreed to meet back up with her in Shibuya in the evening. She ended up being an hour late to meet me, and here's why:

When trying to get back from Shinjuku to Ueno, she took the Yamanote line, which is correct. But she kept changing her mind about which way to go. She couldn't figure out if she should go left or right, so she kept getting off, riding in the opposite direction, then getting off again a little later to go the other way. She basically ended up going around Tokyo on Yamanote twice because she forgot it's a loop! Which I had specifically told her the day she arrived! ^^;;;;

So this week has not been a good week for TriDeltas on trains. But in our defense, Tokyo does have the most complicated public transportation system in the world.

And yet, I've been here nine months... ばか。。。