Omiyage

Now in Japan people are ALWAYS giving gifts. They call it omiyage. You give it when you enter a new organization (so you know when I came I had to be giving out gift left, right and centre) and you also buy omiyage when you travel especially to foreign countries to give it away upon your return. The omiyage doesn't have to be fancy. It's usually just sweets but it shows that wherever you were that you were thinking of other people -your coworkers, friends etc. and it clearly encourages generosity and thoughtfulness - WONDERFUL !!!

This is how serious Omiyage is. A teacher went on her honeymoon (I repeat, HONEYMOON) in Italy and when she came back yuh done know there were boxes of Italian chocolate on the table in the staff room for the rest of the teachers. So if you planning to go anywhere and you nuh waan’ buy nuttin', don’t tell nobody because if you do, you know you better try bring back something. No one will come to you demanding their gift but it’s one of those unspoken rules. Now even if I wanted to do the “’Don’t Tell’ Cop Out”, I can’t, because I always have to make my Vice-Principal know exactly where I am just in case I get into any problems.

Now my mother, whom I love dearly, always told us that when we buy a gift we should buy something that we would like for ourselves. This ensures that you give only the best gift. So when I went to the Kyoto I had the omiyage on my mind. Now Kyoto isn’t exactly foreign ( it’s only one hour by train from where I am in Osaka) , but still the omiyage thing was on my mind, and worse, the people with whom I work, knew I was going to Kyoto (every body know mi business- lol) So I went to this shop where the sold sweets to get the omiyage. The great thing is that you can taste the sweets before the purchase them. So there I was tasting away when I came upon this absolutely scrumptious sweet. I decided that it would be THE omiyage. But I took it a step further- I decided to get one for myself too. On the journey home I feasted on this chocolate delight. Oh it was so good! Soon the packet I had bought for myself was finished. Suddenly the omiyage was looking very tempting. The taste of what I remembered were delectable chocolates was quickly vanishing and of course my mouth started to water for the omiyage. How absolutely dreadful! Now herein lies the moral dilemma. Should I take some of the omiyage to satisfy the sweet craving or should I leave' the people dem omiyage'?…. What do you think I did?. . . .

I bus’ the omiyage of course – LOL But soon the sweet chocolate was having a bitter taste – That’s what you call GUILT . I couldn’t eat it off. Luckily the guilt tripped in pretty quickly so there were enough packets of sweets to give to everyone. I was also quite pleased that when I gave them out, everyone seemed to enjoy them ( I know I did ) . It really is a nice feeling to know that other persons enjoy the gifts you give them ( no matter how small ) And learn from this blog- If something bought is intended for another ' don’ nyam is out' !

Wedding

Now I have always asked God for what some may consider ‘silly’ things and he has granted me each and every one. When I was younger I prayed that I could work at Burger King so that I could eat all the burgers I wanted. And in the summer of 2001 , right before entering UWI I got the job I had prayed for. For six glorious weeks I worked at the home of the whopper and don’ ask if I never nyam. I expanded weekly and my face took on a greasy sheen but I never cared a bit because I was loving every moment of the job. The added bonus was that I got to speak on the intercom system to take the orders and don’t ask if I never use up the radio voice- It was lovely.

I also I love weddings. I love the excitement, the beauty and the joy that accompanies a wedding. I remember Mommy taking us to see a wedding at Holy Cross once and you would have thought I knew the bride the way I did happy standing on the outside and looking in. So before I came to Japan I asked the Lord if I could see a Japanese wedding. Things were looking a bit impossible though because to get to go to a wedding I would have to get know someone who was getting married, befriend them and get an invite. Plus you cyaan just mek fren cause you want to go to the people them wedding- no sah. That is using people and it nuh right. Perhaps a picture would have to suffice.

Last Monday I went to Kyoto with some teachers. Now Kyoto has dozens of temples all over and each is surrounded by lovely gardens. Anyway we went to this temple only to find out that they were having a very special event there that day (You can guess what it was don’t it?) Yes - it was a wedding. But better still, anyone who was visiting could see it. They had a special section set up for guests to sit down and view the ceremony. I was in my elements. My prayer was being answered. With glee I watched as the bride bedecked in her pristine white kimono and the dapper groom go through the wedding rites. I couldn’t understand what they were saying but love needs no interpretation and that was felt. I was so glad I was able to see a Japanese wedding . I just wish them all the very best because I am always cognizant that a wedding and a marriage are quite different. And I thank God that he hears even the “silly’ prayers.

Transportation woes

Think Japan and you think Transportation. After all this is the birth place of the cars that most of us drive daily - Nissan, Toyota and of course Honda, just to name a few. In Jamaica you know I had to depend on my parents wheels but God is GOOD. In Japan I have managed to get some wheels of my own and it’s called Bicycle- major brand over here. Yes it only has two wheels but I’m giving thanks.

The other day I even got my ride pimped. I got a new basket for the back, for those supermarket runs, and a place where the umbrella can be held, so when it rains I just get wet, not soaked. :) You can just imagine how my black bike look good.

This bike takes me most places but on Friday I had a seminar in this far out place called Abiko and so I couldn’t ride. I was running really late that morning though so I just jumped on my bicycle and pedaled away to the station, parked the bike where I have parked it dozens of times before , jumped off the bike (literally) pulled out the key (yes it have key too) and I flew up the stairs to the catch the train.

Anyway at 9:00 pm. I returned to Eiwa Station and went downstairs for the bike and I didn’t see it. I said to myself “OK. Maybe someone moved it somewhere down the line” because sometimes they do that to create a bit more space for other bicycles. So up and down the row of bicycles I went and I still didn’t see my bike. After I looked and didn’t see it I started thinking that somebody “T’ief mi bike” (after all, hog mummy always tink him pickney pretty and my bike nice so I coulda kinda understand if you woulda want it - lol) However before reaching a conclusion I decided to look on the ground where the bike had been parked and there lay a pice of paper taped to the floor with the date on it. This was beginning to look serious because the paper looked very official. I also noticed too that others were probably there earlier and had been taken up so I proceeded to tear it from the floor only to realize that there was a sign close by which had a bicycle with an red slash on it – Ladies and gentlemen it did’t take me long to figure out that I shouldn’t have parked my bicycle there and finally that my beloved bike had been towed. Anyway I took the sign to someone who could explain it fully to me and they confirmed that indeed the bicycle had been towed and that it was going to cost me 2500 yen ( 20 USD) to get it back. Now, as far as I know is car you tow not bike – but you live, park in the wrong place and learn.

I friend of mine drove me to the place where the bike was (which by the way was quite a distance form my apartment) When I reached I realized that this thing is probably big business because there was a sea of bikes in this lot. Some old men were in charge of the lot and had a good laugh when I put down a fake bawling as I drew the money from the my wallet to pay them. At the end of the whole thing they said that is should come back soon a request that I am sure will not be granted because I will make sure I park the bike in a safe place.