Japanese Lesson Day 5

“Chotoo…” a smooth female voice flows from my computer.  I immediately repeat these foreign syllables; they fall out of my mouth and hit the ground vaguely resembling the sounds of my Japanese computer program.  A male voice interrupts me “This is how you expresses reluctance without being as explicit as ‘no.’ Make sure to have the trailing intonation at the end.  Japanese rarely use the word ‘no’; this is a convenient way to turn someone down or negate something with out being direct about it.”  Perfect, I am already terrible at turning people down, maybe this will make my life easier…

I am in DC listening to Japanese lessons as I pack for my trip abroad.  My last “daily” Japanese lesson was almost a month ago.   Spring semester in Japan starts next week,  so my time has been entirely consumed with the logistics of planning to live in Tokyo.  How big is a room that is measured in tatami mats?  Where is the best location to live?  Will I need to bring my own hair dryer?  How will I get a cell phone?  What should I bring for gifts?  And the answers are anything but simple.

The locations of all the short-stay Guest Houses (Gaijin Houses) are given in terms of the nearest metro station.  This seemed very helpful until I discovered that there are upwards of 200 metro stations in central Tokyo.  Learning the names and locations of these stations was not on my original “to do” list.  So when I found an apartment in a guest house a short walk from where I will take classes (at Sophia University), I was greatly relieved.  The apartment is perfect, with internet access, a tiny stove, sink, and bathroom with a shower, in a house with several other students who will be taking classes on the same campus.

As I separate items into the “need to pack” “possibly pack” and “buy it there instead” piles, I am stuck in figuring where  razors, toothpaste, pens, and ibuprofen should go.  What if the world I am about to enter is filled with hairy people with bad breath who take green tea for headaches and write with only calligraphy brushes? Better to be safe–I pack these items.  Only the hair dryer ends up in the “buy-it-there” pile.

Next, I headed out to buy candy at Rodman’s, and Georgetown sweatshirts at the campus bookstore for gifts.

As for the cell phone, I discovered that it is not as simple as picking up a prepaid phone from Best Buy; for a foreigner in Tokyo it is a multi-step process.  I need to get an Alien Registration ID Card first:  its required documentation when purchasing a cell phone in Japan because they need to be sure you are not a criminal (not only does Japan have the toughest gun control in the world, but also the toughest cell phone control!).  But to get the ID card, I need to get two small photos of me of a very specific size; hopefully I can do this before I leave.

“Where is Shinjuku station: Shinjuku eki wa doko desu ka?” says the female voice.  In the silence that follows I repeat these words over and over.  The male voice comes back “When asking questions on the subway in downtown Tokyo, you may get an uncertain response or no response at all from passersby.”  I just hope I don’t get lost on the way to buy my hair dryer in Shinjuku.