Everyone Knows Where I Live

It's been really convenient that whenever someone from the Board of Education needed me to do something, they knew where to pick me up. After all, I haven't the slightest clue how to describe where my house is. As far as I can tell, none of the nearest "streets" have any names (at home we'd probably just call them alleys). But I just assumed that they just knew where it was because the BoE owns the house. It's a duplex, and one side is usually used by the ALT in my position, and the other is used by a Vice Principal.

Turns out I was wrong. I've joked that any mail directed to me will get here, because they know that there are only two Americans in town. Apparently, that's more true than I knew.

How did I find this out? It started with my neighbor- the woman who tends the vegetable patch that is next to my house. She's 87 (I think), and knocked on my door yesterday to introduce herself. The issue? She doesn't speak any English. Or read any Japanese (so online translators were no help). She was very friendly (and gave me a giant bag of vegetables she had grown), but couldn't seem to understand that I didn't know what she was saying. My limited Japanese was used to say "English Teacher. Saku Chuo and Saku Higashi." She was able to convey that she already knew that (what else would I be?), following it with a rush of questions "Sorry. English. No Japanese." Lots more questions, followed with me repeating that I was sorry, but didn't understand (repeat this sentence- over and over and over).

Thankfully, Julienne happened to call just then to tell me she was back from Seattle and was willing to translate for me. The very nice lady wanted to say hello, welcome me and be friends- I was able to reply through proxy that I wished the same.

Surprised as I was to find that my old neighbor already knew about me, I was even more surprised when my door was knocked on later:

I was driving home from the library that same afternoon and saw a black lab. I've been missing Opal like crazy, and I didn't know when my next chance would be to say hello, so I pulled to the side of the road and introduced myself (and gave the dog some treats- I've decided to always have them in my car). It was an incredibly friendly dog, and I was really sad when I had to move my car for someone to get through- thinking I wouldn't see it again.

I was contemplating exploring the neighborhood again to see if I could find it (seriously, I really miss Opal), when my door was knocked on again. To my surprise, it was the owner of the first dog, who had decided to bring her second lab to my house to introduce me (and bring me homemade blueberry jam)! Despite the fact that we weren't within view of my house when I had met her, she knew exactly where to go. It was such a pleasant surprise, and so nice of her to go out of her way. It's been nice to have Coco (my neighbor's dog) to say hello to, but there's nothing like a big, friendly lab to perk up your spirits. She was able to show me where her house is, and I fully intend to go visit for my dog fix very soon!

I had assumed that the idea that everyone knew where the only foreigners in town not only lived but also what they did was a bit of an exaggeration, but it's turning out to be very true. I'm just glad that it's working out in my favor that they do. And even more glad that there are two very friendly labs that live close to my house!