A knife in hand, and an old lady
So last night I got knifed. It was a surprise attack, one that I wouldn’t have expected, and it left me with a bleeding gash. Adrenaline was pumping, but my heart rate didn’t seem to change, I mostly stayed calm and in control at the basic level.
The knifing was so fast I barely knew what was happening, but my instincts potentially saved me from an even worse wound than I received. I was taking a knife out of the dish drainer where it had been drying and somehow bumped another knife out (perhaps the blade of the first flipped the handle of the second somehow).
This was no regular knife, it was one of those big bladed chopping board type of knives, super sharp too. Scary thing was it was heading toward my feet and accelerating at 9.8 meters per second squared! My quick ninja skills forced me to thrust my left hand out to deflect (or grab) the knife while I tried to scoot my feet back. In the end I was left with a small lovely gash on the inside of my ring finger (of all places).
I’m sure it will be fine in a few days, but typing today required a little more effort than normal.
Today I had my first ever train conversation with a little old lady. At the third stop a little old lady got on, and I scooted just enough to give her room to sit down (train was getting quite full at this point). She sat there with her Japanese style fan waving what little cool air was available her way, while I sat there listening to Japanesepod101.com lessons and playing my Kanji training DS game.
That’s what she noticed first, the game in my hand. I did all my daily practice requirements for the game (about 10 Kanji) and went through a few extra drills, during which she kept glancing at the game, then at me. At one point she mustered up enough courage to say something to me, at which point I quickly removed one of the earphones and said “sumimasen” (excuse me).
She repeated something that I couldn’t quite understand. I only understood a part of it:
“Doko ni ??? ??? denki ha? ?? ka?”
My vaguest guess was that she was inquiring as to where I got the game. I replied out of nervousness “Sumimasen, wakarimasen. Chotto nihongo wo hanashimasu” (excuse me i don’t understand. I only speak a little Japanese)
She replied “Wakarimashita” (I understand) and nodded, and I cowardly stopped talking and refocused on my game.
Two more train station stops passed and I continued to go through a bunch of extra practice exercises. All the time a voice in my head kept saying “you better use this opportunity to practice your Japanese you dumbass”.
After the train departed from the second station since our last chat, I turned off the DS and removed the cartridge. It was then my turn to muster the courage to make conversation, thus I proceeded to tell her the name of the game “kore no game ha bi moji trainingu desu”. She looked and exclaimed “oh, so that is it”.
I then told her that I used it for studying Japanese kanji everyday. To which she said she understood. Then she said something like “what country are you from”, I could only pick out 2 words in the sentence “nan” and “nin” - and I answered by telling her “watashi ha amerika jin desu” (i am an American). She asked if I was an college student, I replied and told her I was working in Akasaka. I then showed her the iPhone and how I listed to Japanese lessons, which she thought was quite interesting.
About 1 minute passed and we reached the next station, which happened to be her stop (how interesting that my timing was spot on) and she ended the conversation by saying “Ganbatte Kudasai ne!” (”Please Do your best, right!”) and I replied, “Hai, Arigatou Gozaimasu” (Yes, thank you)…
However small and insignificant that conversation had on my Nihongo ability, it was definitely good to talk to someone that I didn’t already know and wasn’t introduced to by someone else. Perhaps there is still hope for me yet…
August 5th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Oh, there is hope, you’ll see! Japanese is a hard language to learn but you’re doing a great job practicing all day, plus you get to hear Japanese all day and practice with Ayako
That kind of experiences are cool, I understand how you feel because I’ve gone through experiences like that too! Believe me, it does help you A LOT to keep learning and it’s encouraging when people are nice and talk to you instead of giving you a dirty look 
I had good experiences there in the US and I got to learn a lot, each time I got to learn a whole bunch of new things! Aw…good times…*sigh* makes me kinda sad to think about it too. Oh well. I hope you get well and your hand is ok! Take care of it and don’t let it get infected or anything 
August 6th, 2009 at 7:49 am
I should be able to use the train a bit more for conversations, but unfortunately the trains are normally very un-talkative atmospheres. People mostly stay very quiet here, not like trains in NY or elsewhere.
Thanks
August 6th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Ok. When I started reading this I thought for sure that an old lady had knifed you in an ally way. My mind began to think about all the stories I’ve heard about how low the crime rate was in Japan. Then I started wondering if your “Instincts” allowed you to dodge a second swipe by the old lady.
Glad it got cleared up as I read, and turned out to be less dramatic. Though admittedly I was yearning for ninja combat between you and grandma.
Oh well, maybe next time.
August 6th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Don’t worry, im sure there will be some ninjitsu stories to come…
Glad the narrative pulled you in, even though it kinda let you down