I have often wondered what life was like at the Tower of Babel after God gave the people many languages. I am intrigued with other languages and other cultures. I dream of visiting other countries, though I don't own a passport (yet). The Amazing Race is one of my favorite TV shows, because you get a glimpse into life in other cultures and international travel. I think that all Americans should be bilingual and that our schools should teach a 2nd language from an early age. We are doing a disservice to the next generation by thinking that everyone around the world should speak English. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a foreign exchange student to Norway (unfortunately my parents didn't like the thought of their little girl being so far away!). I still would love to host an exchange student at some point, adopt an international baby or go on the mission field.
Anyway... In January, Truman told me that there was a new boy in his class - a boy from Japan. Naturally, I was intrigued. I kept thinking that it would be fun to get to know the family and invite them over for dinner sometime. One day in the carpool line, I realized the mom was behind me. When we left the school parking lot, she followed me all the way to our neighborhood - they live one street over from us! Again, I thought - we should have them over to play sometime.
Last week, I picked the boys up at the school after school, rather than having them ride the bus as usual. The Japanese mom was there. So, I wanted to approach her - planning to introduce myself, welcome them to the area, let them know that we lived in their neighborhood & suggest that we get together sometime soon. I was thrilled when I realized that there are three boys in their family and they all looked about the same ages as mine!
When I walked up to talk to her, I quickly realized that she doesn't speak English. No - she REALLY doesn't speak English. At all. Nada. Zip. I said "Hi!" and asked how old her boys were. She did not understand me. My boys had seen hers at school and knew what grades they were in. I was hoping her 4th grader would be able to help translate. She was speaking to him in Japanese, but when I tried to talk to him... he didn't understand anything I said! Finally, I was able to get out of her that her boys are 5, 8 & 10 (mine are 5, 7 & 9) and their names (which I could not pronounce). I tried to tell her that we live in her neighborhood. Blank stare. She held out a translator and pointed to the blinking cursor. Everything on the translator was in Japanese, other than the QWERTY keyboard. So, I tried to type in "We live in your neighborhood." - except I couldn't find the space bar!! So, I typed "weliveinyourneighborhood" - which apparently didn't translate well into Japanese. :) Then, I found a hyphen, so I tried again "we-live-in-your-neighborhood" - apparently that doesn't translate into Japanese either! :) Finally, after 10 minutes of attempted conversation and many attempts at using the translator, we smiled - she said "sorry" - we shook hands and we parted ways. Thankfully, she was very friendly and seemed happy that someone was trying to talk to her.
I don't give up easily. This poor lady lives in the U.S., her children are attending English schools and none of them speak English! I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to live in a foreign country and not speak the language. So... I searched for an online translator. I typed in some simple sentences - what my name was, that we live in her neighborhood, how I translated the text, etc. and translated it to Japanese and printed it out!
Yesterday, I saw her again and handed her the note. She smiled as if she understood and seemed pleasantly surprised. She tried to communicate something about the kids' kindergarten program that was taking place last night... I think she meant that she wanted to meet me in the hall before the program. Last night, I didn't see her until after the program and once again, we attempted communication. After much gesturing and her saying repeatedly "You" - we exchanged names. Me Amy, Her Sayaku.
I still know very little about her family - why they are here, how long they will be here, whether her husband speaks English, or anything else. But, I'm excited to see where this new friendship takes us! Someday, I hope to laugh with her over coffee (or hot tea) about our first conversation attempts...
Jennifer & I at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We bonded, because we spent 6 hours in the car together!
We played lots of video games...
When the rain dried up, we spent time outside riding bicycles, scooters & skateboards...
...Funniest photo of the week!
