Are you sure you want to ejaculate?

Don't let the title scare you, this is just another fun blog about being a foreigner living in a country that doesn't speak your language.

This month I am taking two college classes versus my normal one. K has taken this like a champ and the past two Sundays has taken B out to run some errands so I could get a big portion of my homework done with no distractions. This last Sunday he took him to drop of some donations to the second hand store.

The problem with your first overseas move is the amount of unnecessary items you will bring with you, and the amount of necessary items you'll leave at home. I have donated so much stuff because I simply don't need it here and do not have the storage for it. I also keep remembering things I put in storage in the states that I could have brought with me. You live and you learn.

Most of the younger generations in Japan know English. They are taught it 1-12 grade in almost every school. However, they don't speak it well. They learn to read and write in the language, but they do not know how to converse. Therefore, when faced with a foreigner most of them panic. Americans are classified talkers in this country. We are loud and unnecessarily conversational and that is now how they operate here. If they can avoid speaking to you in English they will.

Most of the time this isn't a problem. K knows enough Japanese that the locals assume he's fluent and immediately speak normally to him, therefore leaving us staring at them blankly. Google Translate's app has this amazing function where you can have someone speak to the phone and the phone will try to translate it.

However, in a crowded mall where there is a lot of background noise and busy people, it may not work. So when the donation woman is trying to ask you if you are sure you want to donate the enormous box of crap you just bought her, it may try to assume she's asking you, "are you sure you want to ejaculate?"

If you know how conservative this country is you can imagine the horror this woman experienced when the phone wrote that question in both English and Japanese. Luckily for her, K is a very jolly person and laughed it off. He attempted to make her feel at ease by telling her it was okay and he got most of what she was trying to say. However, she was thoroughly embarrassed and who could blame her?

I feel really bad having to ask people to translate things for me. A lot of the time you see it on their face when you walk in a restaurant or store. "Oh no. Another foreigner, please don't ask me to speak English." And when you do ask them if they speak English they sometimes have that look of "crap". I don't blame them, because we feel that same embarrassment speaking Japanese. Well, I do. K is a natural and his upbringing early in life in Japan is to thank for that. He has a perfect accent and can pronounce everything enough that, as I said earlier, they assume he's fluent. I, on the other hand, sound like a white person trying to speak Japanese.

We make it a point, when asking Japanese people to speak in English, to tell them their English pronunciation is very good. And we thank them profusely of course. Most of the time, their English really is good, and they have nothing to worry about.

This same weekend we went to a restaurant where you sign in instead of having a hostess take your name. They ask you if you want smoking or non-smoking in Kanji on this sheet and K and I had no idea what it meant. We eventually gave up when Google translate failed us for the second time that day. A girl who had been seated before us walked up to me and said she noticed we were trying to take pictures of it. I asked her if she could tell us what it meant and she did.

Despite them being uncomfortable speaking English, everyone here is very nice. If you meet a rude person in Japan, I'd bet money they weren't Japanese. Or they weren't brought up in Japan. They may look at us funny sometimes, especially the kids when we are further away from the base. But 99% of the time, everyone is kind, polite, and could care less that we're foreign in their country. At least, they don't express in a way I could tell. They may think it, but it doesn't show at all.

We took B to a park outside of the Starbucks we enjoy and a group of kids we assume came from the same neighborhood were out playing. One took an immediate liking to B and played with him specifically, trying to show him the way they were playing (tag, I assume) and helping him down the slide and such. B ran over to us and was so excited about this new friend. He loves older boys and thinks he's really cool when he gets to play with them. This boy was obviously an older sibling, he was natural with the way he treated B. K told B how to say hello to the boy in Japanese and we watched him run over and say it rushed and it didn't sound quite right. But the boy smiled and said it back to B and they ran off together. Later B was showing off and lifted his shirt to be silly, the boy laughed, but then stood up and immediately pulled B's shirt down and kind of ruffled his hair. K and I had to laugh, we had opened our mouths to tell B to put the shirt down right as the little boy put it down for him.

It was an amazing moment to watch. Our son communicated to this other kid, and they had such a good time playing. As the sun went down, the kids had to run off on their bikes and the boy made sure B saw him wave goodbye before riding off. It was a sweet moment, my heart was full. This little boy gave my son such a lovely evening and they didn't even speak the same language.

Again I am floored by the purity of children. Especially as the U.S. sees this horrific tragedy in Florida. The media tries to twist it for their own good, but here's the simple facts. 50+ people were slaughtered in an act of hate. It's that simple.

When two kids who don't even speak the same language can communicate and have fun together, why can't adults live in a society together without being so negative and hurtful to one another?

K and I have learned a lot about ourselves in the short time we've been in Japan. We don't know anyone, we don't speak their language at all, and for a while getting around was difficult. Not once have I felt a negative air in this country. Even when we ask them to speak English. They are so kind to us, a couple who has come into their land to live.

Japan isn't a perfect country by any means. Everyone has their flaws, every land, every government, every person. But the fact of the matter is that it is entirely possible to live in a positive way. And it's not something that you have to point the finger to do. It starts with you. Looking in the mirror, and decide to be loving, deciding to be kind, and decide to spread a positive image of yourself and who you are. People are going to be ignorant and annoying, but do you have to respond to them in the same way? No.

"Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13