Can you give me a lift?

It is summer time here in Japan which means the sun is glaring, big bugs are everywhere, and the kids are out from school. This afternoon Curtis left for America leaving me behind on the island. I spent all morning cleaning out my desk and then for the rest of the day I drank coffee and studied Kanji. Summer vacation lasts until the first week of September and even though I’m not teaching I am still required to come into work. A few days studying in the office is great, but an entire month of it is more then I can handle, especially with Curtis gone and no one to goof off with in English.

Technically, I could travel using vacation days during this time, but since I used up my last vacation days when returning to the States for my sisters wedding I can’t take that route. Because I defiantly don’t want to spend every day of the summer in the office I knew I had better come up with something clever.

Throughout the year I am required to attend several “level up” training seminars, for example, the one in Tokyo I recently attended. During these seminars I am not taking vacation days off from work simply because I am there for work. After searching online a bit and asking a few friends I found a Japanese summer school program offered through the language school GEOS Kudan. The program lasts three weeks and prepares students for the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) a test given once a year (December) at several locations throughout Japan.

I explained to my boss that I wanted to take this class in order to better my Japanese. I continued to explain that if I could understand and communicate Japanese at a higher level then I could perform my job at a higher level. Finally, the kicker, I said “and oh, I don’t have any vacation days left so I want it to count as work training and not as vacation.” Then I bit my lower lip in anticipation for his response. He thought to himself for a moment and said he had to make a few phone calls before he could answer. Fair enough, I thought to myself, at least he didn’t say no! That afternoon he called his boss who then called his boss and together they agreed I could attend the course.

So where is the course? Well, it’s in Tokyo which also happens to be where Kyoko lives. What a coincidence!! The course begins on Monday so I plan on leaving from Nagashima this Friday. I had originally planned on flying to into Tokyo like I normally do, but once I checked the summer flight rates I decided against it. Usually, I can get to Tokyo and back for about 300 dollars round trip. However, since it is summer and families are out from school and work round trip tickets now cost about 800 dollars – which is not in my travel budget.

In efforts to curve transportation costs I opted for the second best option –hitchhiking. I’ve done it once, but it’s been a while so I think it’s about time that I try it again. Hitchhiking in Japan is generally quite safe and enjoyable which means that you don’t have to worry mom. A straight drive from Kagoshima to Tokyo is about 20 hours so I am sure that if I leave by Friday afternoon I can make it to Tokyo by Monday in time for class. Regardless of how many hours it takes me to get there I’m sure it will be an adventure and that’s exactly what I’m aching for. I’ll let you know how it unfolds.

Lastly, take a look at these pictures below. The top of the sign says “I can speak Japanese!” or (nihongo dekiru.) The lower portion of the sign says the name of the next major city that I am heading towards. Each time I arrive to a new city I will change the bottom half of the sign so that people can easily see where I am heading. The Winnie the Pooh and friends is to relay to everyone that I am a nice going friendly guy that’s just looking for a ride.


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And now little added Japanese lesson for you: If you notice the (きる) pronounced (ki ru) is down just a bit from the rest of the sentence. Like I said earlier my sign reads (Nihongo dekiru) or (I can speak Japanese!). However, because the (ki ru) is separated a bit from the (Nihongo de) the meaning actually changes from (I can speak Japanese!) to (I can cut Japanese). Granted that this doesn’t relay the easy going nice guy message I’m trying to communicate It was the only way I could make it work and still fit the Winnie the Pooh on the page. Also, if anything, it’ll be funny for everyone because surly they know that I don’t mean the latter of the two .