Some gaijin have all the luck

This week has been a cold, hard week. I`ve been advised to drop enormous hints to my rich shopho classes about anything I need, particularly in the run up to the New Year (being a female gaijin is said to yield more results, though the handsome male teachers probably do best of all - they are so rare, after all) so have been dropping hints like rocks for hot water bottles and blankets all week! It is so cold here. It is probably the same temperature as England, but the clearer air means the cold gets right at you. The paper-thin walls, which are to repel the summer heat, do nothing to stave off the cold during winter. It snowed in parts of Japan earlier in the week and the weatherman advised to wear flat, rubber-soled shoes and to take small steps. I suspect this was for the baka na gaijin (stupid foreigners) who don`t know how to walk properly.

I had my toughest Japanese lesson yet. After a sleepless night (I kicked off my blankets, although it was freezing, so have since had to tuck them under my arms and try to ignore the lumps and bumps and drift off - I don`t though, I am like the Princess and the pea), I was in a delicate mood, but Hosoya-san was still unforgiving. She has stopped referring to my Japanese as perfect, I am merely daijobe (OK) now. I am having to tell myself my own achievements so I don`t give up altogether. This week we were supposed to be reviewing times and the past three chapters, as well as practising katakana. Katakana is one of the three alphabets they have here - two are basically the same, but just look different, katakana is one of these and I hate it. I know most hiragana and it`s far prettier than katakana. Katakana is just a stupid, ugly addition.
Hosoya-san quickly tired of this and breezed through the third chapter and onto drilling me on family birthdays and ages. She did introduce me to the family vocabulary, but once she found out how old my mother is (sorry Mum, all the ladies are obsessed by your age, although she said you were young!) she started on random questions about my job that I didn`t understand. After much harassment she reluctantly explained and started off again. She told me the Japanese for summer vacation, then asked what I was doing for my winter break. I told her I didn`t understand, so I got a translation of her question, not how to form an answer. During the break I complained to another gaijin, who suggested I learn the chapter ahead of the lesson and just use it as a practise session, not comprehending the randomness of Hosoya-san`s teaching methods.

This is a good learning curve and can only make me a better teacher. I know more now the importance of introducing vocabulary before a lesson - something I have always raced through as it can be difficult and embarrassing!

Last night, Karen and I had wine at Pamela`s, which just gave us a taste so we headed to the George for `one more`. Having taken advantage of a quiet night, George had shut and gone home, which disorientated us, but we found a new, American pub and tried there. It was quite awful, but half-way into the drink, Nao, Cherry Boy`s flatmate arrived, sadly with no Cherry Boy - he was sleeping, the little cherub! It`s a busy time for pachinko salesmen. Somehow I managed to bully a random salaryman (who, I seem to remember what a Tottenham fan...) into buying us more drinks and then I invited myself to karaoke with two others that I don`t think I even knew the names of to forget. As a gaijin woman, I was allowed to sing most of all, though the practise brought no improvement. I drank until last orders and left my companion asleep in the booth.

This morning, I woke up in a mess of clothes and empty crisp packets I had scattered around my room with my phone reminder screaming `relative clauses` at me like a bastard. What a gross start to the day. I quickly recovered when I remembered I`d found ￥10,000 (GBP50) outside the karaoke place and so decided to sooth my head with a new hairstyle from the attractive hairdresser at Mario`s of London. Suzuki-san was a master and I am very pleased with my new look, the blond is now a subtle, but festive red. As a gaijin, I became the star attraction for the staff and everyone practised their English on me (it didn`t stretch far beyond `hello` and `yes`, so it wasn`t a strain). Unfortunately, one of the other stylists came over to compliment me as I discovered the addition of shampoo (who can have a cut and colour without a shampoo?!) meant I was ￥2,000 short! My mortification was obvious, but I am not sure Suzuki-san will ever want to karaoke with me now! I was hoping to wangle a night out on my next visit, so will have to ensure I am stacked with cash to avoid further embarrassment. Karen came to my rescue and I chased home to get it. When I returned, Suzuki-san paraded me in front of his next client, so I think I am forgiven. Knowing `baka na gaijin` certainly helped and I`m sure it was said again in my absence.