The kindness of strangers...
Had to blog this immediately. Charley and I had walked over to Stacey's apartment a couple neighborhoods over to pick up some furniture and stuff -- she's leaving Japan this week, and so we (mostly Charley, but I got some kitchen shelves out of the deal) were taking advantage of that to get stuff for our bare apartments *g*
So Charley is wheeling along this computer desk stacked high with a nightstand, pillows and a computer chair, and Stacey and I are carrying a small couch with shelves piled on top. We're maybe a third of the way back when we pass a few people out walking their dogs. We're all laughing to ourselves about the mishaps (we're alternating between carrying the couch low and on our heads, and Charley's lost a wheel), and a woman stops Charley to ask if we wanted help. We said thank you, but we were okay. Well, more I said that -- I dropped the couched and rushed back the half a block to where Charley was, because I'm the only one who understand Japanese really at all. We say thank you, and continue on our way.
Imagine our surprise when a few minutes later, a car pulls up beside us and lo and behold, its the kind woman from before. She moves forward a bit to let another car by, then insists on having us put the stuff in her car to take it up the hill. Charley and Stacey walk the rest of the way with the lightweight desk, and I go in the car ostensibly because I a) know where the apartment is and b) understand Japanese. So its not a terribly long walk, but with the hills and everything, it was going to be interesting. The woman (I'm just now realizing that I didn't get her name, though she refused to give us her address so we could thank her in any case) kept apologizing for the bags in her car taking up space... after we unloaded the car, then moved everything upstairs into the apartments, she gave us a ride back to Stacey's as we had a couple more things to pick up. On the way, she stopped at her house to drop off the packages, then pulled up to Stacey's apartment.
There, we waffled a bit -- all we had was a full length mirror and a framed poster, which wouldn't be too bad to carry back, but after much dithering (half in Japanese, as I had been translating the gist of what she was saying whenever the others were around to hear), we decided to take her up on the offer back. She drove us back, and said a few things that I didn't quite understand -- something about nanka which I later understood as nankai, probably commenting on the multiple trips we'd have to take, then said that we live close, but "up down" was bad/strenuous. (Yes, the only English she used was "up down", and that was good because I honestly can't remember how to tell someone to go straight up the hill, lol.) When we got out the final time, there was much bowing and arigatou gozaimasu-ing on my and Charley's parts, and well, actually, lots of bowing all around, but you get used to that in Japan. When I helped carry the rest into Charley's apartment, he said it was adorable how she had rushed back home carrying her little dog in order to drive out and help us. Oh my god, but this is going to be my source for warm and fuzzy feelings for a long time.
<3
x-posted to my travel blog, feedingthewanderlust.blogspot.com
So Charley is wheeling along this computer desk stacked high with a nightstand, pillows and a computer chair, and Stacey and I are carrying a small couch with shelves piled on top. We're maybe a third of the way back when we pass a few people out walking their dogs. We're all laughing to ourselves about the mishaps (we're alternating between carrying the couch low and on our heads, and Charley's lost a wheel), and a woman stops Charley to ask if we wanted help. We said thank you, but we were okay. Well, more I said that -- I dropped the couched and rushed back the half a block to where Charley was, because I'm the only one who understand Japanese really at all. We say thank you, and continue on our way.
Imagine our surprise when a few minutes later, a car pulls up beside us and lo and behold, its the kind woman from before. She moves forward a bit to let another car by, then insists on having us put the stuff in her car to take it up the hill. Charley and Stacey walk the rest of the way with the lightweight desk, and I go in the car ostensibly because I a) know where the apartment is and b) understand Japanese. So its not a terribly long walk, but with the hills and everything, it was going to be interesting. The woman (I'm just now realizing that I didn't get her name, though she refused to give us her address so we could thank her in any case) kept apologizing for the bags in her car taking up space... after we unloaded the car, then moved everything upstairs into the apartments, she gave us a ride back to Stacey's as we had a couple more things to pick up. On the way, she stopped at her house to drop off the packages, then pulled up to Stacey's apartment.
There, we waffled a bit -- all we had was a full length mirror and a framed poster, which wouldn't be too bad to carry back, but after much dithering (half in Japanese, as I had been translating the gist of what she was saying whenever the others were around to hear), we decided to take her up on the offer back. She drove us back, and said a few things that I didn't quite understand -- something about nanka which I later understood as nankai, probably commenting on the multiple trips we'd have to take, then said that we live close, but "up down" was bad/strenuous. (Yes, the only English she used was "up down", and that was good because I honestly can't remember how to tell someone to go straight up the hill, lol.) When we got out the final time, there was much bowing and arigatou gozaimasu-ing on my and Charley's parts, and well, actually, lots of bowing all around, but you get used to that in Japan. When I helped carry the rest into Charley's apartment, he said it was adorable how she had rushed back home carrying her little dog in order to drive out and help us. Oh my god, but this is going to be my source for warm and fuzzy feelings for a long time.
<3
x-posted to my travel blog, feedingthewanderlust.blogspot.com