Sometimes things happen that you didn't expect and hope you never forget. This afternoon, after studying a map and trying to determine what I had time for (and energy!) in Kyoto, I set off to explore the neighborhood around the hostel. There were numerous restaurants, a small boutique hotel and a dog boarding establishment (Score!!). I glanced across the street to see a couple of child manikins dressed in traditional kimonos I crossed the street to see if it was at all possible they might have anything I could afford. Oh, and big enough to stuff my American sized body in.
While there I noticed the socks. In Japan, it is very important to wear decent socks since you never know when you will have to remove your shoes. I learned this the hard way one day when I wore some holes held together by threads that I was still calling socks. An older man walked up to me and I tried to communicate that I was not sure of the sizes. I know my size in shoes in Japan but not socks.
When I said something about the socks being "cute" that seemed to really chime in with them. They looked at each other quizzically and kept repeating "Cute?" To explain what it meant I motioned to the young girl and said "Cute!". "Ummmmmm". They seemed to understand somewhat.
Next I pointed to the socks and said "Cute!". "Ummmmmm". Understood again. After that I said "Cute socks!". They caught on so well they were pointing to everyone's socks and everyone was repeating "Cute socks! Cute socks!" and raising their feet. I felt like I was in the middle of a crazy Bill Murray movie.
I walked away with the biggest smile on my face! They were all doing that cute little side to side Japanese wave. The older lady grabbed my hand and said something my ears did not understand but my heart did.
Japan is a strange country full of ironies and it could use a warning label. About the time you decide you don't like it and it is just too different, you start falling in love with it.
Vickie,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you made it to Kyoto. I hope among other things that you make it out to the emperor's palaces and gardens based upon each season of the year. I'm sorry, I can't think of the name of one of the temples with the Zen gardens that's well worth experiencing, although there are a number of them. The Japanese are very polite, but not easy to get to know, and few speak English. Would enjoy hearing more about your Japanese tour when you arrive home and have the time to write. Jim Mola