Lost in Translation

So yesterday (or today for those reading in the west...) I got up at 9 to give myself time to run some errands and get a few things done before we have to call and check in for castings at 11. Those of which included getting postcards, stamps, and more yen. Easier said than done. It turns out postcards, especially in the less touristy areas like where our apartment is, in Nikka Meguro, are not so easy to come by. They don't sell them along with magazines or cartoons at the convenience stores or 100 yen stores too often. Or even at the post office. It's definitely an American thing and I'm going to have to go to some touristy American place to get them.

But the stamps and cash I was able to get at the post office. Though this was my first time getting a chance to venture out on my own since being here without Aki or anyone to help. Unfortunately the woman at the counter did not speak English and the phrases I know like hello and thank you didn't get me too far here. I felt like a stupid American as she had this puzzled look on her face in trying to understand my request to get money from a debit card. Thankfully, another employee noticed our difficulty and came to my rescue as she spoke enough English to help me. She took me over to the ATM and pushed the buttons for me (they were in Japanese- the English option didn't have an exchange feature) as I swiped my card and she had me write down the amount of Yen I wanted. The transaction was a success and I then proceeded to go up to the same non-English speaking woman to purchase stamps, and I thought a postcard as well. I wrote down the selection number of the stamps displayed in a rotating box that I wanted and that was easy enough, and then tried to ask for postcards. I'm fiddling around my "Japanese Phrases for Dummies" book trying to find the section I came across the day before with phrases for exchanges and post offices but the English-speaking woman came again to my aid. I'm making hand movements to draw a postcard shape in the air and she tells me they don't sell them there but maybe at a convenience store. And after clarifying that the Hello Kitty stamps I selected are 10 yen more than needed for postcard postage to send "to United States" I said it's ok and asked if I can still use them because I liked them more than the boring ones that are cheaper. So I purchased my Hello Kitty stamps and was on my way, told them "domo arigato" and felt a bit flustered.

It can be quite frustrating trying to communicate something and you can't find the words. I'm trying to learn as much as I can but when it comes down to it, the language is pretty difficult to apply to everyday use but hopefully I'm making some progress. I got back, checked in for castings and was told we had to be picked up at 1:30 so I had time to go for my first jog since I've been here. This apartment has a river behind it with a nice path that goes around it so I jogged around it and it was a great release. I was taking in everything I was seeing- the people out walking, biking, and opening up shop. There are tons of cute boutiques, restaurants, and hair salons along the river that I wanted to stop and explore more. It's a very nice, serene, quiter area and not completely urban and busy like downtown Tokyo. Tiny side streets and curving back streets, with lots of trees and greenery.

Throughout the afternoon, on our way to our various 5 castings which took us up until 7pm, everyone got very interested in learning Japanese words and we were all grilling Aki on how to say this, what does that mean? and practicing saying it all. It was fun and it's nice that we all have an eagerness to learn how to speak it, let alone the other questions we ask him throughout the day about the culture, etc. He's basically our little personal tour guide, giving us insight to the culture etc. I don't know what we'd do without him!