The Back of the Bus

Last weekend, I went on a trip with people from Town Hall. In Japan, I think you go on trips with your office twice a year, once in late fall or early winter, and once in in spring or summer. I think we also have a section trip (just for us in the Planning and Coordinating Division) in mid-winter. There were two groups for the general trip, and I picked the one that would happen while I was in Japan (obviously). Everyone else in Town Hall who I knew chose the second trip, but I figured it would be a good chance to spend time with new people. There were only twelve people on our trip (I think the second "half" has forty!). I was the only person under 30, and probably one of three under 40. Which isn't really a problem, but I think relationships are often defined by age here, so I was a bit nervous. As soon as the bus started moving at 8:00 am, the men started calling out, "Mia-chan! Come back here and sit with us!" Which I did, and they expected me to start drinking. I put it off as long as I could, and then grudgingly accepted a Chu-Hi, which is like alcohol soda and usually doesn't have much of an effect on me - but even though I drank it slowly, after I finished it, my whole body began to ache. Oh, it was painful. For the rest of the trip, I kept the same empty can in front of me so I wouldn't have to drink any more.

I liked being with the rowdy guys in the back of the bus, but a few of them did the job for everyone, and I think I have filled my quota for cigarette smoke for the next ten years of my life. Another drawback was that some of the guys (well, just one really, the same as the top smoker) were a little too flirty with our poor young tour guide. She was good humored about the "KEI-CHAN! Come back here!" every few minutes. Sometimes it was "It's too hot/too cold," "Can you bring us some tea?" and stuff that was nominally part of her job, though it wouldn't have killed them to be a bit more polite about it, but other times, it was, "Sit next to me honey, and have a drink," which she couldn't do, of course. Like I said, she giggled a lot and didn't seem offended, but it sort of reminded me of my short time as a waitress/bartender on Cape Cod. Same age as when I did that too. Anyway, the old guys seemed to have a good time, and she seemed happy enough to flirt with them.

I went through the whole trip pretty much not knowing anyone's name. I had seen them all, and I am sure I had heard the names of everyone at least once, but that's not always enough. One of the younger guys sort of took me under his wing, and had even brought along a trendy English phrase book, probably less to communicate with me and more as a conversation piece. The guys had a great time learning, "It's now or never," "Love at first sight," and "Are you trying to pick me up?" One guy was actually pretty good, which he said was due to having some distant relative who was an English teacher. Can't say that I understand the reasoning behind that. The guy who brought the book was someone I saw all the time at the pool, but I couldn't remember his name, and I had no idea what section he was in. I heard other people calling him Kanji-san, so I figured it could be a nickname or something. When the group was splitting up in Kobe City, I took the tour group leader's number, and Kanji said we should exchange numbers too. As I entered his name, I asked if I was using the right characters. He said, "Oh, it's those characters, but... Just use Takahashi." I felt really embarassed. I'd been calling him by his nickname when I should have been using his last name, since he was my superior. The next day, at work, he stopped at my desk to give me some pictures. After he left, I asked my coworker Yoko something about him, and she couldn't figure out who I was talking about. "Kanji-san, kanji-san, you know, he was just at my desk - Takahashi!" She burst out laughing. Kanji apparently means "Person in charge of planning the trip." Uh, oops!

Not nearly as bad as the unfortunate and accidental way I described a tomato, but that's a story for in person, and not appropriate for general audiences! So ask me about it.

In other news, Ben comes back to Japan this morning, and I am off to America in a few weeks.