Momma power

Yesterday morning while walking around Juso, 

I noticed a large number of women riding their bikes to the station going to work. 

90% of the bikes had a baby car on the back. 

I think that Japanese mothers must be very powerful to work 

and

to raise young kids at the same time.

~Tim~

Change in fashion

When I was handing out flyers a man in his fifties with short hair and wearing a women’s summer sundress approached me and asked for a flyer. 
Grudgingly I gave him one. 

Yesterday he appeared again this time wearing a long skirt and a long-sleeved blouse with a pair of high heels. It looks like he changed into fall fashion.

~Tim~

Grudgingly:しぶしぶ，仕方なく。

Drive through.

Recently a taxicab drove through the front door of a coffee shop. 

Luckily, no one was hurt. 

Is this the start I’d drive through coffee?

~Tim~

Things that my father said.

Things that my father said. 

My father was an old fashion salesman who always had a glad hand and a joke for his customers. 

When a customer greeted him with "how's your business?"

 My father would always answer,

 "Business is like sex. When it is good, it's very good 

but when it is bad, it is still good!"

~Tim~

Kindness

I was on my way to an appointment in heavy rain. 

I have to use crutches so I must wear a rain suit. 

While crossing a busy street in Umeda,  

a business man in his late fifties parked his car and 

came to me and sheltered me from the rain with his umbrella. 

He escorted me to my appointed location 

and he gave me a smile before he left. 

Only in Japan you will find this kindness.

~Tim~

~ニューヨーク英語学院~

"Vanilla" or "Banana"

I went to the supermarket to get some vanilla ice cream but I could not find any. So I asked the clerk for vanilla ice cream and she replied "no banana". So I spoke more slowly and I repeated the same question. This time she replied "no banana only vanilla".

~Tim~

Still Japan

I went in a shop yesterday and the assistant came up to me and said, 

"Okyakusama, may I help you?"

This is still Japan.

~Tim~

T-shirt

I passed a middle aged lady on the street today and she was wearing a t-shirt which said, "searching for something great".
I noticed that on the back of the shirt it said 

"found it."

~Tim~

I want a rest.

I was approached by a foreign tourist who said to me,"I want a rest". I told him to sit down or to go to a coffee shop. He repeated the same statement again but this time with more urgency. 
What he wanted was the restroom.

~Tim~

I love you.

While handing out flyers today,  a pretty young women came up to me and said

"I love you". 

I was of course happy and surprised. 
She went on to say "love you homepage and website". 
I was happy to hear that but a little heartbroken.

~Tim~

Where is the toilet?

Very early this morning I was approached by a guy about thirty. 
He was wearing a helmet, Japanese tabi and a tool belt. 
His eyes were a bit hysterical. 
He grabbed my shoulders and said very slowly in English,
"Where is the toilet?"

~Tim~

A miracle.

 This morning I watched a well dressed women in her late twenties walk across a busy road full of rush hour traffic. Although the road was full of speeding cars, trucks and buses, this women walked aimlessly to the other side completely oblivious to the traffic which narrowly missed or the horns of the angry motorist as she was staring intensely at her media device. She continued walking to the station still engrossed in her device. 

It was a pure miracle that she wasn't killed.

~Tim~

Blowout.

I was riding my tricycle yesterday past a discount steak house which was having a special half-price sale day. The sale attracted a great deal of attention. There were about thirty people standing in line in front of the shop when I passed by. While passing, one of my rear tires blew out with a large BOOM! 
It was sounding like a bomb or gunfire. People in the crowd started to dash for cover or plain run away. If I were hungry I would have jumped in front of the line.

~Tim~

Job

While stuffing mail boxes with my flier this morning, I notice a lady about sixty riding her bicycle into the same complex I was just going into. Suddenly a cat dashed across her path and she fell down trying to avoid it. 
I helped her up and collected her belongings for her. As I started to fill the post boxes suddenly the same lady appeared. 
She told me she was this apartment's manager and no posting was allowed.

~Tim~

Surprise reunion.

About thirty years ago I had a dental problem. I went to my friends clinic but he was out so his young assistant (a dark long haired beauty), put three stitches in my mouth. Last week I went to the same clinic and a heavy slow moving middle-aged women put on a pair of thick glasses. A smile came to her face and asked me if I remembered her. 
You probably know the rest of the story.

~Tim~

Students and I

In the summer I usually wear flips instead of shoes. I always take them off when I teach (why? I don't know.). Some of my students began taking off their shoes and socks in the class. I don't know if it is a joke or a show of support.

~Tim~

Old man's broken heart.

Recently I was walking near an old man and a young girl. The girl was probably his granddaughter. He asked her if she would like to stay at his house a longer period of time. The young girl said no. Heartbroken the gentleman requested the reason why. The little girl replied that she didn't want to stay longer because her grandfather's farts were loud and smelly.

~Tim~

At the supermarket.

 While shopping at the local supermarket, I heard some very loud voices shouting and arguing. I thought that a big fight was about to begin so I rushed to the frozen food section to check it out. When I got there, I was surprised to see eight Korean tourist trying to decide which flavor ice- cream to buy. I guess that when Koreans discuss something they discuss it with all of their heart.

~Tim~

Just another day in Nishinakajima.

Just another day. 
This morning I was greeted by a man about fifty-five. He was dressed as a female animation character. Complete with a long blonde, curly hair wig and pink and white dress with a petty coat also pink tights, pink shoes and a pink shoulder bag. I returned his greeting. 
Just another day in Nishinakajima.

~Tim~

My father's saying.

My father was a traveling salesman in New York. He always had something humorous to say to his customers. When he was asked about his business, he would reply.

"Business is like sex. 

When it's good, it's good or it's very good but when it's bad, it's still good."

~Tim~