Japanese Class

Hello Everyone,

Last week, I finished my first Japanese class. I was sorry to see it end so soon. The past three months have been a fascinating process, and we had such a good time in our class!

When I first went to class, I knew barely ten words in Japanese. My classmates and I were in a unique situation. Instead of being in a language class where the students all speak the same language (such as English) and are all trying to learn a foreign language (such as Spanish), my classmates and I spoke different languages and were trying to learn a common foreign language. One American joined the class halfway through, but my other classmates were from China, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Nepal. Our teachers performed the entire class in Japanese out of necessity but also to our benefit, I think. I can’t tell you how cool it was to start out not being able to talk to your classmates at all because of the language barrier then learning together and then being able to talk to each other a little more each week!

We had a sayonara party during our last class at which we all gave a little farewell speech, and the best part was that we could understand each other! Wow! How did that happen!? I went home that evening thinking things in Japanese. Of course, I still don’t know very much, but any words I do know were swirling around in my head and popped in to replace the English equivalent if they got the chance. Totemotanoshiikattadesu! (It was so much fun!)

 And now, a story of friendship…

Over the past three months, I’ve discovered first-hand that you don’t need to know the same language in order to be friends with someone. Friendship is such a beautiful thing! What is really important is a sincere smile and an understanding heart.  Let me tell you about Ranjana, my friend from Nepal…

I think we became friends right away. She sat in front of me in Japanese class, and she kept turning around and smiling real wide at me, so I kept sending smiles back. She tried asking me some questions (I think?), and I tried very hard to make sense of her Nepali speech. I tried communicating in English, which she tried very hard to understand. Lol, we tried in vain. So, we resorted back to smiles, sending messages of goodwill through our eyes and our pearly whites.

Ranjana and I ended up taking the same train home after class each week. Her stop was just one before mine. So, we would wait for the train together in the cold. After a couple lessons we took great pleasure in telling each other the obvious, “Samui!” (It is cold!) One week, Ranjana had an iPod, and on the way home we listened to her music for India and Nepal.  Next class, I brought my iPod and listend to my music, which she enjoyed as well. We got a kick out of being able to say, "Sukidesu!" (I like it!) 

And our friendship grew.

Here is Ranjana:

:)

  

Here is her music:

:)

 

One week Ranjana surprised me with earrings from Nepal, which I totally love and are totally my style. Then, I gave her some earrings from America that I thought she might like. It was so awesome because the next class she wore them with some exotic Nepal-style clothing the exact same color! They were a chartreuse kind of green color, and they went perfectly!

Somehow amidst our smatterings of Japanese and a little English (which she must have been studying a bit as well) I gathered that she had a husband who worked nearby our Japanese school. A few weeks later when I arrived at class, her eyes were bright and I could tell she was excited. She kept saying, “Kyo—today—husband, husband. Husband!” Her English made me smile because it was said in a Nepali accent through open lips but clenched teeth, similar to the way a ventriloquist might speak. Anyway, I understood that her husband would meet us after that day’s class, which he did. He actually spoke English and Japanese. He is working in Japan and they hope to return to Nepal in a couple years.

Her two absolutely adorable, beautiful children are living in Nepal with obaasan (their grandmother). She showed me pictures of her kids, a four-year-old boy and a little girl about two or three. In the photo the girl is wearing Nepal-style eyeliner just like her mama! Sooo cute!

One class, Ranjana stuffed a small Tupperware container in my hand. It was chicken she had made Nepal-style. I had it for lunch the following day, and it was so delicious! Very spicy but very delicious! I returned the container with some homemade chocolate chip cookies. :)

Then, our last class came. We had a great time at the class party, and on the train, we talked..a little bit…but we still talked..in Japanese! As her stop came closer, instead of smiling, we exchanged some sad faces and whined out a “kanashii” (sad) here and there. A bittersweet time. Just before Ranjana got off at her stop, we squeezed each other’s hands and spoke a heartfelt, knowing, “Tomodachi.”

Tomodachi means friend.

      The End.

 

With love,

 Beth