Hospitable count: 3

So you've all read about the first hospitable story - entire family walks me home.



After this experience, I finally learned my way home from school! My school is situated across the street from Belc Supermarket (ベルク ｽｰﾊﾟｰ, pronouced b-ru-ku su-pa-), which most people know about. My second hospitable count occurred the weekend before this past weekend when I was lost and wandering the streets after a Japanese conversational class. I wandered up to a stranger and asked "ベルク ｽｰﾊﾟｰ はどこですか？” (Where's Belc Supermarket? - B-ru-ku su-pa- wa, doko desu ka?). And just like last time, I didn't understand what she said after I asked. haha... So guess what? Yep! She rode her bike with me to Belc!

Yesterday was even more interesting. After work, I decided to wander the streets of Kumagaa for some sort of community centre (don't know if those exist here) to take some yoga lessons to stay active and meet people. My manager told me it was around this huge karaoke bar. Now, who thinks I got lost trying to get to the karaoke bar??? Well, HA! you're wrong!!! i found the karaoke bar just fine, and along the way I found this really cool chinese restaurant that I must try. Now I can take whoever visits me to karaoke and chinese food! lol

Back to the story, since getting there wasn't the issues, of course looking for my centre was a HUGE issue. I really need to practice reading my katakana. I rode my bike for about 10 minutes around the area looking for a building that could look like a community centre, but found no luck. I resort to asking strangers on the street. I asked a few people if they understood English and then I even started doing yoga positions for them to explain yoga and they just stared at me weirdly and told me to ask the gas station attendant. lol. I almost gave up when I rode past a building that looks a place where I can take cooking lessons. While standing infront of this building trying to decipher a board full of kanji and hiragana, I saw a woman walk by and thought, "what the heck. Last one. If she doesn't speak English, I give up and I'll just ask my manager tomorrow."

So I approached her and asked if she spoke English. SHE SAID YESSSSSSSSS!!!! I got so excited I started talking to her in my regular excited pace (for those who don't know what that sounds like... it's REALLY fast). Poor girl looked SO confused!!! I slowed down my pace and tried to explain community centre, yoga, meet people, learn japanese. She didn't know what a community centre was or of any nearby place to take yoga, so she couldn't help me. She asked if I was chinese, and when I said yes, she started talking to me mandarin. errrr... you should've seen the confused look on my face and my terrible attempt to tell her I don't speak mandarin! lol well we spoke for a good 1/2 hour - 1 hour and she gave me her phone number and might be enroling her 5 year-old daughter into my school for English classes. :D (making a new friend and business, how wonderful is that?) Well, as always, this story ends with me in a lost situation and she ends up walking with me to Belc! :D

I hope I don't ever run out of lifelines to meet wonderfully nice people who'll always take me home! :D