What goes around.....

Japan is often known as a country which dislikes foreigners. It is true that compared to other developed countries there aren’t that many here, and, true it is very difficult to become a Japanese citizen. Luckily, apart from people who sometimes move if I sit next to them on the tram, I have had no real negative experiences.

Tonight Carol, dawn and I decided to head to Sligos in the nearby city of Uto. We had to catch the train but weren’t sure which one it was.

As a train pulled in to the station I asked a young Japanese man (in Japanese) if this was the train to Uto. He barely looked at me before saying he didn’t understand. I asked again and he told me plainly that he didn’t understand my Japanese. I’m not the best student but I know how to ask basic questions. I was polite, said thanks and walked away.

An older man who overheard kindly told me that this wasn’t the train and that I had to wait for the next one. That was kind of him so I smiled and said thank you. The three of us were just discussing what had happened when the older man came up to me again. He explained that the next train would be going in the opposite direction and so I actually had to catch the one after that, How sweet! He had gone to the trouble of making sure we knew exactly which train to catch.

As I sat on the train I wondered if the young man had simply not known and whether I was wrong to be initially angry at his response. These feelings were soon dashed as I saw him sitting on our train and twenty minutes later he got off at Uto. What an ass!