January 14, 2009
Clueless
I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be completely clueless and helpless in another country. Actually, I never was in Japan. I always was able to ask “Do you speak English?” and “Where is the….?” or able to order food. Holly has a good grasp of the language, and I’m just looking at her completely dumbfounded. When the cleaning lady came today, she was talking to me in Czech, and I just nodded and said yes to everything she said. I hope I can learn some key phrases in the next week while at the farm. By the way, mom, next to the farm is a horse farm, where they “grow” (haha, raise) horses! How cool is that. Today, I met Holly and another teacher for lunch and I had schnitzel and mashed potatoes. It was all soo oily and buttery. I only ate half, cuz I was worried about how my body would react. Luckily, while at the farm I wont have eating problems, because the hippies are all into the macrobiotic food craze, and there are lots of vegetarians too. At the supermarket there were a good selection of fruits and vegetables (YAY!). After lunch Holly and I went in search of a bank, so I could exchange my money. It was soo funny and we were clueless of what to do, cuz Holly had never been in a bank here before. It looked closed and very intimidating, and next thing we know the big wooden door opened in front of us. We were like what do we do, do we go in? It was just like a scary movie. Then, we were in this small room, with no people, and there was another big intimidating door. We kinda just walked in circles, very unsure. Then, that door opened too. When we walked in there was life! No one greeted us, so we weren’t sure what to do next. Finally Holly walked up to the teller and asked if she spoke English (Must learn phrase #1!), and asked for the money exchange. After that, it all went smoothly. The walk home was freezing. I think my nose would fall off if possible. I bundle up so much that only my eyes are showing. A lot of the locals walk around without a hat or scarf! Luckily, Holly is from Texas, and loves the heat, so our flat is nice and toasty warm.
Clueless
I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be completely clueless and helpless in another country. Actually, I never was in Japan. I always was able to ask “Do you speak English?” and “Where is the….?” or able to order food. Holly has a good grasp of the language, and I’m just looking at her completely dumbfounded. When the cleaning lady came today, she was talking to me in Czech, and I just nodded and said yes to everything she said. I hope I can learn some key phrases in the next week while at the farm. By the way, mom, next to the farm is a horse farm, where they “grow” (haha, raise) horses! How cool is that. Today, I met Holly and another teacher for lunch and I had schnitzel and mashed potatoes. It was all soo oily and buttery. I only ate half, cuz I was worried about how my body would react. Luckily, while at the farm I wont have eating problems, because the hippies are all into the macrobiotic food craze, and there are lots of vegetarians too. At the supermarket there were a good selection of fruits and vegetables (YAY!). After lunch Holly and I went in search of a bank, so I could exchange my money. It was soo funny and we were clueless of what to do, cuz Holly had never been in a bank here before. It looked closed and very intimidating, and next thing we know the big wooden door opened in front of us. We were like what do we do, do we go in? It was just like a scary movie. Then, we were in this small room, with no people, and there was another big intimidating door. We kinda just walked in circles, very unsure. Then, that door opened too. When we walked in there was life! No one greeted us, so we weren’t sure what to do next. Finally Holly walked up to the teller and asked if she spoke English (Must learn phrase #1!), and asked for the money exchange. After that, it all went smoothly. The walk home was freezing. I think my nose would fall off if possible. I bundle up so much that only my eyes are showing. A lot of the locals walk around without a hat or scarf! Luckily, Holly is from Texas, and loves the heat, so our flat is nice and toasty warm.
Holly and I at lunch
schnitzel
bacon chips... which are actually really yummy!
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