Me Talk Japanese One Day

Okay, we're starting to really feel like foreigners. The sensation of just being on vacation is wearing off, and we're becoming aware of just how much we will need to learn to get by.

We need to learn some Japanese, pronto...I mean, sousou.

Yesterday in the market a Japanese man bumped into me. He looked over at me, and said "excuse me" in English. Dave and I looked at each other, each wondering if we had heard correctly. We are in this man's country, and he excused himself to us in our language. I can't imagine going out of my way to do this in the aisles of Super Wal-Mart at home. Despite my years of book learned French and Spanish, honestly I just wouldn't bother.

Our language skills might be embarrassing, but we're taking pride in the small victories. Like successfully showering.

We're staying in the hotel on base until we find housing. The navy base is a little American oasis in Yokosuka. There is even a Dunkin' Donuts here. (Yokosuka is already more like home than Bremerton in that respect) The hotel is pretty much like any standard American mid-grade hotel, EXCEPT for the shower. We still are not completely sure how to use it. Dave has turned it off twice all by himself, to great applause from me. I have made it as far as turning the shower-head off, but I have to call Dave to turn off the faucet. I posted a picture above. You may think it looks easy, but don't judge.

Also there is a photo of the cell phones from last post; notice the choices on the bottom of the screen, I am not sure what "Options" I have or what I am supposed to "Select" here. Still working on figuring those out...