My phone rang at 7:00. I was sitting around my table wondering if I should keep trying to write or if I should study Japanese instead, when the keitai guitar strum started. It was my neighbor from down the street.
“Moshi-moshi?” I answered, just to be funny.
“Konbanwa, Y- desu. Are you busy?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Can you come to my house? Now?”
“Sure. Is everything okay?”
“Okay. Come to my house!”
I got up to change clothes and five minutes later was in the bathroom looking at my hair when I heard a knock on my door. It was Y.
“Jaimie?” she asked. “Come!” She motioned quickly for me to follow her.
I gave my hair up for lost and followed her down the stairs. She was walking very fast.
Is someone important at her house? Is something wrong? Does she want me to eat dinner and she’s afraid the food will be cold? Possibilities and explanations passed through my head as we trotted down the street.
“Do you know something something?” she asked me suddenly, looking at me. I gave her my quizzical “I don’t know what you’re talking about” look that I have down pat from overuse. She also recognized it and said, “OK,” and we kept walking.
At her house, she threw open her door and rushed inside; after a quick shoe kick-off she slid open the paneled door to the tatami room, and with great bravado pointed to the tree in the middle of the room.
“Gekka bijin!” she exclaimed. “One time flowers open. Tomorrow, close!”
The tree was about six feet tall with about ten open flowers: white almost-roses with wavy fingers all around them. They smelled sweet. Apparently they only open once every couple of months (twice a year?) and even then they only stay open from about 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 or 3:00 a.m., when they close up again. The kanji decomposition is: Month, Under, Beautiful, Woman (Person).
We marveled at the tree flowers for a while, took pictures, then sat down to drink whisky and water and talk about religion some more. (We always end up talking about religion, which is always a challenge considering all three of our limited vocabularies! But they always end up being the most interesting conversations. Tonight I learned that there are just as many branches of Buddhism as there are of Christianity, and that many families celebrate both Shinto and Buddhist holidays. I really need to read up more on Eastern religions...)
We only talked for a bit longer, then I thanked them profusely and said goodbye.
"You come to my house!" Y called after me. "You are daughter! Please come to my house! Oyasumi!"
(N.B.: Today on the radio I heard a song with the lyrics: "It's time to go/ goodbye / goodbye/ I hate to leave / Oyasuminasai." I liked that "goodbye/oyasuminasai" rhyme. Totemo sugoi ne.)
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