Chapter 8 Fitting In and Standing Out

11/3/98 Tuesday – This day, Mama and I took a long walk. Papa drove the car to a meeting, so we couldn’t use the car. We went to a kindergarten bazaar. We know three families whose children attend that school, and the children are taught Bible history. 

When we finally found the place, we could see that it was crowded. Little kids made soap bubbles in the yard, licking ice cream cones and climbing on the jungle gym. 

Upstairs, we discovered a room packed with handmade items: cloth bags, potholders, clothing, stuffed animals, decorations, etc. Mothers were looking around and buying items that they and their fellow moms had created. Mama bought a number of items to give to friends in the States, regardless of the fact that she would have to lug them home in suitcases.

I felt squashed among all those people, and annoyed at the necessity for each person to take off and put on their shoes at the doorway when there wasn’t a proper genkan (entryway designed to stow shoes). Mama didn’t mind the crowds, though. She grew up in the city.

11/6/98 Friday – I lived through a busy afternoon this day. It started with after-school studies of Japanese at 2:00pm. I’ve been working my way through the Japanese for English Speakers course. Lately, I’ve been reading stories or essays five times in Japanese and three times in English, filling in some blanks in the Japanese part. 

I don’t really care for that set-up, because, first of all, I have to try to match up which Japanese word means which English word from the corresponding sentences. Secondly, I’m being taught new words and the way to write these words – the hard way – at the same time. It’s more like exposure to Japanese than memorization. And in any case, a lot of the compositions are dumb, in my opinion.

Since I’ll be finished the course by January, I might as well keep it up till then. I don’t know how I’ll study Japanese after that. Maybe I’ll be advanced enough just to quit and use what I already know to get by. I can hardly remember a time when I wasn’t actively learning Japanese.

At quarter to 3:00, I walked to Mrs. Takenaka’s house for my piano lesson. However, when I rang the doorbell, no one answered, and the door was locked. I waited on her doorstep, expecting her to drive up, but after 5 minutes, no one had come. I was cold standing there, so I walked back over to Mari-san’s house next to the church. I called Mrs. Takenaka’s number from there. 

Mrs. Takenaka’s mother answered and said my teacher was there, and that she was expecting me. I felt ridiculous, but I hurried back to her house and got a lesson for the last 40 minutes before 4:00. Usually, my piano lessons are on Tuesdays, but this Tuesday was a Japanese holiday.

I’m going to play "Sakura" ("Cherry Blossoms") at my piano recital next month. I’ve gotten to where I can play it all the way through, but I still have to touch it up some more and memorize it.

My last activity this afternoon was to walk around Satogaoka with Mari-san, putting tracts in mailboxes. This made the third time to do this for an hour on Fridays.

This day, we saw Maiko, one of the girls who used to come to Sunday school. She was riding her bike and stopped when she saw me. She said she goes to after-school study sessions all day long on Sundays now.

11/10/98 Tuesday – This day, Mama read some ideas on writing to me. She read from a book entitled: If You Can Talk, You Can Write. Mama is always wanting me to practice writing more often. “God’s given you a talent for writing, and you have to use it,” she says. Once she told me, “Paul Yoshida practices the violin five hours a day. You should write for that long every day, too! You have as much talent in writing as he does in music.”

11/12/98 Thursday – This day, we rode over to Super Center, our local grocery store. On the second floor, the entries in the Cheese Iwaki photo contest were on display. We each had entered two photos, and one of mine won a prize! I had taken the picture in June – a picture of Papa sitting on a step, holding out a popsicle for little Jeremy Bishop to suck. A tall rose of Sharon plant was out of focus in the foreground.

We saw that Eddie and Wendy Buchanan had each won a prize. One of theirs was a picture of Gerald at his school desk on his first day of Japanese 1st grade. The other picture showed the three kids hanging from a bar at the playground, with Mr. Eddie making sure Gracie didn’t let go and fall. That was cute. 

Another picture I liked a lot was of two Japanese young ladies posing in the snow, one wearing a bright red kimono, and her friend wearing a shiny green kimono.

Here’s the latest on Mrs. Takenaka's Pikkoro productions. The Princess and the Pea will be enacted on the morning of November 23 at the Satogaoka Community Center. I’m playing the part of the Queen, mother of the Prince who searches far and wide for a real princess. I’m the one who hides the pea in the bed, although that scene isn’t shown. It would be tricky to have 40 futon mattresses piled on the stage! 

The Queen is my first main role, and my first time to be in a scene on the stage alone, performing a monologue. As a bonus, I get to speak my lines in imperial highly formal Japanese, and understand what I’m saying enough to give the right inflection and emphasis. I’m moving up in the world!

None of the other girls my age are in this play. They’re in the third year of middle school (9th grade) and have to study hard for tests to get into the high school of their choice. I was disappointed because now I don’t get to see four of my friends – Wakana, Yuki, Shiho, and Noriko. The younger girls don’t trouble themselves to try to talk with me, and I can’t join in their gossip.

Anyway, this evening we rehearsed the whole play, which is shorter than Jack and the Beanstalk was. I’ll have to work at my lines and look up a bunch of words in the dictionary. The songs are always fun. I really like the tune for the song the Princess (Urara) sings explaining how sensitive she is.

11/14/98 Saturday – This day I did something that is uncharacteristic for me. I went with Mama to see a high school rugby game! We went because Jesse Tajima (age 17) was playing on the visiting team from Koriyama against Taira (Iwaki). We’ve been hearing for months from Beverly Tajima about her son’s rugby exploits, and this day, since the game would be in our hometown, we just HAD to see it. I’d say Mama wanted to have a chat in English with Miss Beverly more than she wanted to see the game. 

At half-time, when no Tajimas were to be seen except the one on the playing field, Mama insisted that we tramp all the way to the other side of the field. She was sure that a certain lady standing over there was Beverly Tajima. But when we came within a few yards, she halted.

“That can’t be Beverly. She said she’s noisy and enthusiastic when she cheers for the team. That lady isn’t moving at all. No, it’s somebody else.”

So we traveled all the way back around to our original seats. A few minutes later, here came Miss Beverly, grinning and waving to her friends and explaining to us why she was late. Then she settled down to yell advice and encouragement to Jesse and his teammates.

I found the game itself to be a learning experience. I had never seen a rugby game before and didn’t know what to expect. The part that was most fun to watch was when the two teams lined up side by side facing the outside of the field. One player stood beyond the boundary line and threw the ball forward. Then one player from each team leaped up to catch the ball, his teammates hoisting him higher.

Yes, rugby is a cool game to watch, but once in a blue moon is often enough for me. Jesse’s team won.

This afternoon, when I got home again, I finished another activity which I do only once in a blue moon. This was to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom. Unlike the furniture of Mary, which is pushed around helter-skelter as often as possible . . . my bureau, wardrobe, bed, and desk have been firmly planted for the past three years.

I have long felt that my furniture was not placed advantageously. I did not wish to exert myself to alter their positions. I’m surprised that I didn’t get fed up with always walking around the end of my bed from bureau to wardrobe before now! Actually, I wasn’t even present when the furniture was moved in. Mama placed the furniture in the current arrangement.

When I did make up my mind, I was still cautious. I got out a measuring tape and jotted down the length and width of every piece of furniture, plus the space needed in front to open the drawers. Then I diagrammed the immediate layout with a scale of 1 inch = 1 millimeter. Cutting out the labeled rectangles, I experimented on paper with new possibilities.

Mama had always told me that my bedroom furniture could not possibly be rearranged. But when she saw my map, she conceded to letting Papa help me with the heavy lifting.

I chose to put the bed a little way out from the far wall with the full-length window. The desk and bureau were placed across from the bed, against the wall and between the closet and the door. The wardrobe and bookcase remained where they were. I am quite happy with the results.

11/17/98 Tuesday – This morning, I went to the Buchanans’, and Andrew and I completed our third lesson in coal drawing. Miss Wendy ordered the art kit for Andrew, and she invited me to go through the kit with him. (Studies are more stimulating with a partner.)

Last time, we copied a strictly black & white portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Papa’s reaction to my version of President Lincoln was: “Sharon Rose, you ought to draw me, too, if you can make me look as distinguished as that.”

This day’s lesson, Mona Lisa, did not turn out so well. This time we tried to use three colors: black, white, and gray. I followed the graph faithfully. My picture did look better than Andrew’s, but no matter how hard I tried, Mona Lisa’s eyes stayed cock-eyed.

11/20/98 Friday – This afternoon, when I met Mari-san for tract distribution, she requested, “Speak Englishu. Please.” Mari-san and I have always talked together in a combination of Japanese and English. She’s the one to whom I speak Japanese the most. Lately, I guess she decided that she has corrected my Japanese long enough, and it’s time I returned the favor by coaching her English.

So, as we walked toward the third section of Satogaoka, I pronounced slowly, “This morning . . . I went to the dentist. He said my teeth are . . . beautiful.” I thought “beautiful” was a strange modifier for teeth, but I was repeating the dentist’s own words. He had tried to cater to my American ears by speaking English himself. Mari-san showed no surprise at the word choice, for she, like the dentist, equates “beautiful” with the Japanese word kirei, which is used as frequently to mean "clean" as it is to mean "pretty."

Near the end of our rounds, we stopped at the house of a friend who lives alone. She attends our church, but she is in America just now, visiting her grown daughter. Mari-san collected her mail, and then watered the plants. She hooked a shower-hose to the outdoor faucet, but when she turned on the water, the hose started to leak. 

“Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “Burokoon. Too bat!” It was funny to hear her accent, but I didn’t laugh. I know I must sound like that talking Japanese myself. She poured the water from a bucket, and then we both went home.

11/23/98 Monday – Ah, yes. The day of The Princess and the Pea . . . For the first time, our show took place in the late morning, which meant that the actresses needed to be at the hall in the early morning. I put on my costume right away. We’d had a bit of trouble deciding on a costume for me. Mrs. Takenaka wanted me to wear a shimmering white dress, but the high waist was so tight that I could hardly zip it up. She told me I could do it, but I didn’t think I could wear that dress and sing at the same time!

I enlisted Mama’s help in suggesting other dresses. She pulled a rose-colored taffeta dress out of the closet. Then when we showed it to Mrs. T., she gave us a bead collar and lacy skirt to fancy it up. So I was happy with my costume.

What about my hair? I wanted to have part of it in a bun, and the rest hanging loose around my neck. However, yesterday, Mrs. T. requested: “Appu.” Mama agreed that I would look more like a queen with my hair up. She designed a style with thin looped braids close to my ears, and the back hair folded into a net. The result was definitely queenly.

Before the performance, three of our retired actresses came into the dressing room as part of the gang. I tried to talk with Yuki in Japanese:

I told her, “I saw your music contest the other day.”

Yuki answered, “Oh, you came to see it?”

“Yep.”

“How was it?”

“It sounded nice.”

(Here the word kirei (“nice”) was used to refer to beautiful music, rather than beautiful, clean teeth.)

As for the operetta itself, it went smoothly almost the entire time. The mothers changed one scene at the wrong time, but fortunately, it mattered little to the story. Also, a few of the actresses had a hard time finding their misplaced props on the long, narrow ledge backstage.

I remembered every one of my lines, and what’s more, said them at the proper place. The fun part was when I held up a tiny green marble and informed the audience of my secret plan for hiding the pea on the Princess’s bed.

In the evening, my family stopped over at the Buchanans’ home for supper and fellowship. Miss Wendy and the kids had been to see the operetta, and they congratulated me. Actually, I was more thrilled about the mashed potatoes we ate at supper than about the flowers they gave me.

When supper had ended, Andrew brought out a foosball game. First he and Gerald played a match. I kept score and simultaneously read a story to Gracie. When the little ones went to bed, I played soccer against Andrew. He whipped me, 11 to 1.

I did better at Pictionary, with the adults joining in. I was matched against Mr. Eddie. Once, I was drawing baking sheets, ovens, and mixing bowls for all I was worth, while Mr. Eddie drew dogs and bones. Finally, Mama guessed the word: "biscuit"! At 9:00pm, we girls were ahead by 5 points. That was the end of a very long and happy day.

11/26/98 Thursday – Once again, I gave Gerald a lesson in reading and writing. For a writing exercise, I wrote a few easy sentences with dotted lines for him to trace: “Peter and Jane have fun.” I had to remind him to cross the lowercase t after the down part, and on lowercase a and d to go around first, then down.

Then we read together a book about Peter and Jane from the Ladybird series. He’s definitely improving.

11/30/98 Saturday – This day, we celebrated Thanksgiving with some American friends and one Japanese friend. (The Buchanans, although we love them, are Canadian, and they have already celebrated Thanksgiving this year.) The friends who ate with us today included: the Tajimas, Grandpa and Grandma Bishop, and a missionary to China who will be speaking at our church. That’s 15 people, and we met at the church in the upstairs fellowship hall, so we could fit.

While ladies were setting out the vittles, chatting the whole time, Christine and I went with the little girls to the playground next to the church. The gingko trees had dropped their fan-shaped leaves in brilliant yellow piles that match the color of the tights Christine’s baby sister wore. We scooped up the leaves and flung them at each other, shrieking and laughing! Christine termed this game “fallen leaves tag.”

Finally, we all gathered in the upstairs fellowship hall. Grandpa Bishop asked the blessing, and then we dug in. Oh, we ate turkey and cranberry sauce, vegetable casserole, cheesy cauliflower, and hot cinnamon apple rings. . . . When everyone was stuffed just full enough to still have room for dessert, we filed downstairs into the auditorium.

Beverly Tajima volunteered to play the piano, and Mama appointed Grandpa Bishop as song leader. We sang favorite hymns, mentioned Bible verses, and went up front a few at a time for on-the-spot special numbers. We were in a very thankful frame of mind. I recited a favorite verse I had memorized: “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end, everlasting life” (Romans 6:22).

While we sang, our food was digested, and so, before long, we were ready for dessert! We sampled pumpkin pie, peach pie, and cherry cobbler, accompanied by ice cream. For an American touch, we put on the TV and watched – not football – but Jesse’s rugby team. This day’s celebration was the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had in Japan.