I am amazed by the number of people that regularly come to my door during the day here in Japan. Japanese carriers still require signatures for many packages, even inexpensive items ordered on Amazon. I have been visited by painters, city workers, and a woman passing out free samples of probiotics, to name a few. The woman with the probiotics asked my Japanese teacher if I was an exchange student. This woman is definitely my most favorite person to come to the door.
Around Easter, an older couple with literature about Christianity rang my bell. Despite my telling them I don’t understand Japanese - in Japanese (a key phrase for me), the gentleman of the couple was convinced that if he kept talking to me in Japanese, I would somehow magically understand what he was saying. The only thing I understood was the word “tokidoki,” which means “sometimes.” Something happens sometimes was all I got. Eventually, his female companion realized the Holy Spirit was not going to give me the power to understand Japanese in that moment, so she directed them away.[1]
One afternoon I was showering when the doorbell rang. Franny popped her head into the shower and told me someone was at the door.
“I can’t answer it right now. It’s fine. They will just come back another time,” I replied.
A few minutes later Franny returned. “It was a box. I got it,” Franny said.
“You opened the door?”
“Yeah,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“And you spoke to the person?”
“I told them that you were in the shower and to give me the box,” she stated proudly. After my shower, Franny and I had a conversation about “stranger danger” and not opening the door for people she does not know.
Lately, Franny has been begging to stay home by herself while we run errands. In her defense, Japan is one of the safest countries in the world. Likely related, Japanese parents allow their kids more independence and responsibility than is typical in America.
Recently, when Franny was pleading to be left home alone instead of joining us at the store, I asked her “What would you do if a stranger came to the door?”
“I would tell them that I was home by myself because I am a big girl.”
So… We will not be leaving Franny by herself anytime soon.
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During the pandemic, I got pretty good at finding four leaf clovers. I have found about half a dozen on the playground in Japan where Franny plays after school. One of Franny’s little friends sometimes likes to help me look, so I usually give her the ones I find.
However, I, of course, gave the first four-leaf clover I found to Franny. The mythology around these clovers has gotten a little confused around my house. I no longer remember if they are supposed to bring good luck or grant wishes. Either way, Franny opted for the wish option with that particular clover. She held it tightly in her hand, and said to it, “I wish my mom would go to jail.”
“Hey!” I yelled. This caught me completely off guard. She was not mad at me, at least not at that moment. We had not been talking about jail or anything related. I didn’t even know she knew what jail was. “Do you know what would happen if I was in jail?” I asked.
“No,” she replied.
“I would be gone all the time. I would have to stay in jail all day every day. You would have to come to the jail to see me and only see me once a week for a short time. During our visits, we would only be allowed to sit at a table together and talk.”
She quickly replied, “I was just kidding.”
“There is an expression, ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.’”
“I was just kidding!” she responded again more forcefully.
“Does the clover know you were kidding?” I asked.
Franny looked at the clover she was still holding and said to it, “I was just kidding. I was just kidding. I was just kidding.” She repeated that mantra to the clover over and over the whole walk home.
To really ensure the wish did not come true, Franny decided to bury the four-leaf clover in the gravel outside of our house. Hopefully, clovers have a sense of humor.
[1] This disbelief that I cannot speak Japanese is very common among kids. They chat away to me as I simply smile back completely in the dark as to their comments. Recently, I was a “parent-teacher” at Franny’s school. At lunch time, one little girl spoke to me in Japanese nonstop the entire lunch time. At one point she paused mid-bite with spoon lifted towards her mouth and said, “America?” I responded, “Hai, America,” and she just kept on talking.