Choose Your Own Adventure

What do you do when a little grandma (obaachan) gestures to you, *House, My, Come*? Why, you smile and nod, of course!

Or at least, that`s what I did this Sunday after church. We started talking last week, working through the many communication barriers that can arise between one English speaking foreigner, and a deaf lady who uses Japanese Sign Language. I had my car with me this week, so afterward we went out to it and got in. "Where is this going to go?" I wondered, but knew that whatever we ended up doing, I had all afternoon.

Our first stop was Fujiguran, the local mall, so she directed me there simply by pointing. On her cell phone she typed out kaimono, shopping. We parked and went in to the grocery store there, roaming all the fresh food aisles and picking up much more variety and expense than I ever did while shopping alone. At first I was thinking that we were buying lunch for ourselves - some fruit, bread, and dessert - but by the end I knew there was no way we could eat all this alone.

A neighborhood street, much like Funoshiki-san`s

We finished shopping and got back in the car, and she directed me to her house. It was nice to not worry about making smalltalk in the car for once! I was quite relieved I realized she lived somewhere I was already familiar with. It would make the return drive much easier. Before we went in, she warned me about her dog and how he likes to bite, showing a gash on her hand. She opened the door very slowly, only to reveal a mini 4lb dog. He was really friendly when not being "affectionately" bopped by her slippers.

Once inside, I learned something new. We weren`t alone! Her husband was there and they started chatting - he seemed to be deaf as well, but somehow much easier to understand. You could tell that he was the socialite of the two. They gestured things about eating, so I thought that we would then have the lunch we picked up. Instead, the led me back outside. "Maybe we are going to a neighbor`s to eat?" I thought, as we walked up some steep stairs to a place a few doors down. Instead, it turned out to be a restaurant. And a fancy one at that!

We sat down, a pair of cute, short , gesturing ojii/obaachans, and their young foreign friend, about 1.5ft taller than them, acting as interpreter to the bewildered waitresses. After all the ordering was sorted out, the meal went really well. We shared food, told stories with our hands and eyes, and left full and happy.

Back at the house, we talked some more, this time using the assistance of pen, paper, and dictionary to further conversation. When they found out that I was going dancing that night in a couple hours, though, they shooed me out to go get ready, seeing that 4 hours had passed already. But before I left, they packed a whole bag full of bread, sudachi (lemon/lime fruit), sweets, and a plant.

The whole day was like a little mystery, never knowing what would happen next. This was the first time that I could fully appreciate how much can be communicated between people by simply using your hands and a smile.