4:19pm:
We walked through a grocery store after going to the garden and getting ramen. The shirt I’m wearing is low enough in the back that I think the top of my tattoo is poking out. An older fellow (maybe in his 60s) asked me about my tattoo in halting but good English, mentioning that women in Japan almost never get tattoos. Then the part where I got stuck for an answer... I can’t remember his exact wording which would be helpful. He asked what my idea or statement was. I expect he had run into difficulty in finding the exact words, and the ones he did use stumped me. How do I explain what it is, why I got it, and what I want it to say to people. Now that I’ve said that, I want to use a Sharpie to draw a word bubble with different words each day. Topics of silly conversation today were how to apologize. “Sumimasen” is more general, sort of sorry/thank you and so forth. “Gomen nasai” is more specific for when you have something to be sorry for. My example: “kicking their mother.” Alex’s example: “grating their baby.” We’re trying to plan our how to fit things in and Alex was apologizing for planning and changing plans with Akemi without talking to me. Which I’m fine with – my schedule is totally open. Told alex he only has to consult with me before taking me to the giant insect petting zoo and interpretive museum. And the fellow in the supermarket who asked about my tattoo, when I didn’t say anything Alex hopped in and said that it’s not unusual in Seattle, then explained Seattle in relation to baseball and Ichiro, and the fellow wasn’t helped, he explained that he plays rugby and doesn’t follow baseball.