hai, hai, hai

Usually when I am at my computer, I'm listening to some music; tonight I am listening to the sound of my washing machine. I got a new machine because the old one sounded like an elephant got trapped inside of it. I went with one of the church members to the local store to choose which I wanted. Then, the next day I awaited the phone call to tell me when they would be coming. They gave me a time frame of between 11:15 and 3:00. My entire day was built around waiting for this phone call and the subsequent arrival of the workers. I was nervous that they would ask me questions on the phone in Japanese and I wouldn't be able to understand. A friend told me that I only needed to say "hai" (yes) three times and I would be fine. So, when the call came I answered with a hello. I started doing this a while ago because if I answer with "Moshi-moshi" people might not know that I am American. I'm not sure if this works or not, but for now it's my system. After I answered I heard "blah, blah, blah...Midori..blah, blah." I know Midori is the name of the store, so I said "Hai." Then, I heard "blah, blah, blah-blah, ikimasuka?" I know ikimasuka is a verb that means something about going and the ka makes it a question. So, I said "Hai" again. The third line was something about time because he said "ji" but I couldn't catch the numbers. I used my last "hai" then hung up the phone. I had to chuckle to myself because my friend was exactly right. 3 hais covered the entire conversation!

The man that came was very friendly and spoke Japanese using a lot of hand gestures. When they removed the old washer, there was a lot of dusty gunk left on the floor. I tried to sweep before they came, but you can only get so far with a little broom. I had resigned myself to the idea of having a dirty floor under the new machine. He asked me for a cloth to clean the floor using the wax-on, wax-off motion. I was so excited! A clean floor under the new machine!!! What service this was! I was baffled! Can you imagine an American Home Depot worker volunteering to wash your floor for you? I don't think so...

After he was finished installing the new machine, he explained to me how to use it. I'm afraid I didn't catch too many of the particulars, but I knew the basics from my old machine. Plus, I'm not too nervous about pushing buttons and experimenting. My friends from HoneyRock describe this type of experiential education as "learning the fun way."

So, now I'm listening to my machine purr as it spins out the final cycle. Oh, the simple joys of living life in a foreign country...