Saturday, January 24, 2004
Voices From Afar, That Seem So Very Near
I talked to all three of my coffee girls in Japan last night. Usually, I only talk to Danola and get filled in on all the gossip that way, since she has a landline. Last night, (or, uh, yesterday morning, depending on which side of the world you're on,) though, Kristel and Sharon were at Danola's too, for "brunch." I say "brunch" because when I called it was noon, and Sharon still wasn't there. Some things will never change, I'm sure. Of course, when she finally got there, she had made dessert herself, so Danola and Kristel decided it was worth it. I got to hear all this over the phone. I felt like I was practically there.
Danola told me more about her interview for the PA position with the Kencho. If she gets it, she'll stay in Japan for another year, except not as an ALT. She said they started the interview in Japanese for the first 15 minutes, so she doesn't think she's going to get it, despite the claims that it requires only minimal Japanese. I don't think she'll be too sad to go home to South Africa at the end of the current year, anyway.
Sharon is going back to England in April. She says her new (since I left Japan) apartment in Sendai is really, really close to where mine was. She recently discovered that my old subway stop, Atago-Bashi, is actually closer to her than the one she had been using, which means she walks just 2 blocks from my apartment. I wish she'd lived that close when I was actually there. She said that neither Sendai nor Shiogama seem the same since I left, even though I didn't actually live in Shiogama. I spent enough time there, though, I was an honorary citizen.
Kristel is also going back to England at the end of the year, in July. She and Sharon had a little argument over which part of Britain is better, north or south. I have orders that if I go to England, I may start in London with Sharon, but we have to travel north to see Kristel, to prove there is more of England out there.
Somehow, somewhere, somewhen, we all have a date for coffee again. I miss Japan right now.
I talked to all three of my coffee girls in Japan last night. Usually, I only talk to Danola and get filled in on all the gossip that way, since she has a landline. Last night, (or, uh, yesterday morning, depending on which side of the world you're on,) though, Kristel and Sharon were at Danola's too, for "brunch." I say "brunch" because when I called it was noon, and Sharon still wasn't there. Some things will never change, I'm sure. Of course, when she finally got there, she had made dessert herself, so Danola and Kristel decided it was worth it. I got to hear all this over the phone. I felt like I was practically there.
Danola told me more about her interview for the PA position with the Kencho. If she gets it, she'll stay in Japan for another year, except not as an ALT. She said they started the interview in Japanese for the first 15 minutes, so she doesn't think she's going to get it, despite the claims that it requires only minimal Japanese. I don't think she'll be too sad to go home to South Africa at the end of the current year, anyway.
Sharon is going back to England in April. She says her new (since I left Japan) apartment in Sendai is really, really close to where mine was. She recently discovered that my old subway stop, Atago-Bashi, is actually closer to her than the one she had been using, which means she walks just 2 blocks from my apartment. I wish she'd lived that close when I was actually there. She said that neither Sendai nor Shiogama seem the same since I left, even though I didn't actually live in Shiogama. I spent enough time there, though, I was an honorary citizen.
Kristel is also going back to England at the end of the year, in July. She and Sharon had a little argument over which part of Britain is better, north or south. I have orders that if I go to England, I may start in London with Sharon, but we have to travel north to see Kristel, to prove there is more of England out there.
Somehow, somewhere, somewhen, we all have a date for coffee again. I miss Japan right now.
