Telephones and Mail

Yesterday morning we had someone come in and connect our telephone lines to some new system in Japan, Hikari Fiber. Our little town finally got connected. I don't know what this is supposed to mean but maybe our computer is supposed to run faster. Anyway, in the morning I started teaching when the telephone rang. Usually I ignore the phone when I'm teaching (the answering machine can pick it up) but since I was expecting the telephone people I answered and they informed me that they were on their way over. Great. Well, I continued with my lesson when the phone rang again. I never did figure out who this person was. He wanted to know if the box had arrived. What box are we talking about? The box for the telephone people. Hmmm. There is an envelope that arrived (Tetsu had hauled out all the contents that morning and explained them to me in detail so that I'd be able to interact with the telephone people.) No. He didn't want an envelope. He wanted a box. There is no box here! Well, it's supposed to be there. What are you talking about? I used my ol' faithful. "I'm so sorry. I'm a foreigner. You will have to speak more slowly and simply to me. I do not understand so many things. So sorry." Actually I'm tapping my fingers because I have this lesson waiting for me. I suggested he might come and see if he could find his box in my house himself. Oh, he didn't know what the box was supposed to look like! Listen mister, if you don't know then I don't know either!

I hung up and went back to my lesson when the telephone crew arrived and wanted to chat about where they could drill holes and do their construction work. Do whatever needs to be done. I'll lock up the dog so no one gets bitten, you make sure not to let any cats out while you work. I went back to my lesson. Pretty soon the doorbell rang again (Grand Central Station!) and it was the mailman needing my family chop but since I didn't know where it was I pleaded with him and he let me sign my name for his envelope and package. Back to the lesson.

Besides the drilling, the men yelling back and forth to each other, the hammering, the people coming in and out, the telephone truck hanging over our window while the men attached wires, the rest of the lesson went smoothly and by the time the lady left, the telephone people were about done too.

Ok, Mrs. Watanabe. This is what we did. This is all the information. Here are all the important papers. This is how you use the telephone. If it doesn't work, this is what you do. If it still doesn't work this is where you call. But only call them if you have this problem. If you have this problem call somewhere else. Here is the book you read in order to hook up your computer. Blah, blah, blah. Ol' faithful again. "I'm so sorry. I'm a foreigner. You will have to speak more slowly and simply to me. I do not understand so many things. So sorry." Someone please take pity on me! You lost me five minutes ago! I politely asked him to hook up my computer and he politely replied it was against company policy. Too easy to mess up so he was going to let me do the messing myself. Here is another book Mrs. Watanabe and a CD-Rom for instructions on how to set up your computer. Good luck.

Well, I plugged everything in, got out the book and was ready for a real headache of an afternoon and low and behold, the computer works, I can get internet and e-mail. I can do my blogging! I don't know what I'm supposed to do but I'm not doing it.

The man who wanted the box never called back.

The highest point of the morning was the package that the mailman brought!!!!! From Nancy, at Blogging, Near Philadelphia!!! Look at those great fabrics!!! Leiya and I had great fun oohing and ahhing about them. So exciting! What am I going to make? I don't know but I'm going to give it some serious thought!!! Even Tetsu noticed the fabric this morning when he spotted them on the table. "Where do you get fabric like that? They don't sell colors like that in Japan do they?" And when I told him they were from Nancy he congratulated me on finding such a nice blogging friend.

THANK YOU, NANCY!!!!

Update: The box man just called!!! It seems he is a pick-up/delivery man and he had orders to pick up a box full of the telephone equipment that the telephone people replaced yesterday! Yes, there was a bunch of stuff left under the desk and the telephone man had speed raced through the instructions that it was supposed to get returned to somwhere. Mystery solved! The deliveryman wanted to know if I had the box yet. No. No box, but I now know what you are talking about!!! Yeah me! "Yes, please, come and get the stuff you wanted yesterday." "Is it in a box?" "NO BOX!!!" "Could you please just put it in a box for me?" So I put it in a coloful left-over sweets box. He seemed very happy.