The Crazies

Last weekend was my weekend in the big city. I took a day trip up to Osaka hoping to to find much longed for foreign food and visit the so called "geniuses" at the apple store. Much to the dismay of my coworkers, I went into the city alone, as all my friends had plans for the weekend. I think because I am a young female, and not fluent in Japanese.... my Japanese coworkers seem to think that doing anything alone will be very very difficult for me. "Daijobu" they ask me over and over again, "will you be ok?" I assure them, and even the other British JETs that yes, I will be fine. And I was of course. On the bus I made friends with an old couple, who also seemed to think it impossible fo me to navigate the city on my own. They followed me around for a good 30 minutes after I insisted I would be fine, and then watched me to make sure I got on the right train. It was quite sweet. Little did I know they would not be the only friends I would make in the city.

Im not sure exactly why but for whatever reason I seem to attract the crazies. Within my first two weeks here, I had a man following me around the city taking pictures of me, and even with the abundance of foreigners in Osaka I managed to catch the eye of weird old men. As I was crossing the street after dropping off my computer at the apple store and old man started talking to me about where I was from, and why I was in Japan. I was actually really excited to talk to someone without a strong wakayama accent becuase I was able to understand a lot more of what he said, and so I stayed to talk with him about cultural exchange for about 20 minutes. I had absolutley no idea that he was trying to hit on me, I just thought of it as good japanese practice. People on the sidewalk were giving me strange looks, so I was starting to feel like I ought to get out of there when he asked me "Asobi ni ikou" (why dont we go out?) I told him I was really busy and needed to get on my way, and just as I turned around to leave, the man slapped my ass!! Why he would think this was ok I have no idea!! Well at first I was mortified, everyone around me just stopped and starred. I hurried off as fast as I could to the nearest store, and later decided that while the old man was entirley unappropriate, the whole story was pretty hilarious. Thankfully I didnt see him again for the rest of the day.

The rest of my trip to Osaka went really smoothly, and I was totally amazed at how excited I was to be in a big city. I guess I have become accustomed to living in a small city with limited resources very quickly. Possibly the most exciting part of the day was the fabulous lunch I had at a mexican restraunt.