April has been one amazing month, let me tell you.
First, there was a lot of rain, which I was none-too-thrilled about. The cherry blossoms were blooming and I made a point of going to see them with my toddler (who spent 5 minutes eating and 20 running around like crazy) at Shiogama Shrine on Monday, the 6th. After this, I kept on writing and preparing for the Steampunk Hanami event my friends and I had been planning for a bit. Finally, on the 19th, we got to go out, all in fancy dress, and fully enjoy ourselves. It was fantastic. The photos will be edited and put together in a story-book later.
The day previous had also been fantastic. After teaching and fixing rips in my couch with vinyl, glue, and suede, I received my daughter from my in-laws, brought her to another hanami with friends in Sendai, and hang out with them for Starbucks. At 7:15, we met one of our Shiogama friends at HonShiogama Station and went to a sweets-making event. It turned out to be an event aimed more at children than adults, but we still enjoyed making our tiny sweets and devouring them…and then the mayor of the city showed up. My friend greeted him well and told me who he was, as I of course don’t really know any Japanese politicians. Then my toddler ran around for a bit and the mayor caught her looking at some fairly expensive phone straps. I was warning her not to touch them when the man picked one up and said in Japanese that he would buy it for her.
I know in Japanese this is at least a 5 part conversation, as follows:
Mayor: “I will buy this for your daughter.”
Mother: “No, no. That’s not necessary. Please don’t.”
Mayor: “Nope. I’m going to do it.”
Mother: “Oh, okay. If you must. You’re too generous.”
Mayor: “Here you are.”
The only problem is I don’t know how to say almost any of this in keigo, the super-formal language form you should definitely use with the Mayor. So I sat there making sounds of protest with my mouth that were not words in any language. Then I attempted to stand and instead slammed into a supporting beam of the tea-house, shaking the room less than an earthquake but more than noticeably. All of this was ignored by all of the patrons as the Mayor returned with the $10 phone charm for the baby. I bowed and thanked him as profusely as I knew how.
And that’s how Julia not only met the mayor but also received a present from him.
