We are thankful David and Erin gave us a reason to visit Michigan in October when the autumn foliage was positively glorious. I am also thankful Matt and Kate didn't see the man who pulled over on I-94 to skin a deer . . .
Our return trip to Japan was a surreal experience from beginning to end. My old friend Elaine and her husband, Larry, were on our flight from Detroit to Chicago; the man sitting in front of us out of Chicago made three calls on his cell phone after the captain advised us to turn off our phones (a "teachable moment" as in "Matt, wheedling in a needy, self-deprecating tone of voice is not the best way to ask a girl for a date"); and the local time was always somewhere between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm for 12 straight hours. We have now mastered the bureaucratic intricacies of the free shuttle bus service between the base and Narita airport which is a great way to travel if you don't mind twiddling your thumbs in an airport for three hours after a 12-hour flight.
Today Matt is catching up on schoolwork and gearing up for his last football game. I spent two hours this morning deciphering a cryptic calendar entry - 12:30 Diana - and am off to meet my old friend Diana at the Kanazawa Hakkei train station. She will escort me to a hospital in Yokohama where she will introduce me to a doctor who wants to practice his English by chatting with me for a couple of hours every week. This job would suit me as well as my brother Jerry's post-retirement job at the driving range if I could just figure out how to talk and read at the same time.
I estimate it will take me about six hours to relate the highpoints of David and Erin's wedding weekend to this doctor, so the first three sessions will be a breeze. After that, he can carry the conversational ball while I glance surreptiously at my Kindle.
No comments:
Post a Comment