MZ call Home!

This morning I met JANG, a 22 year old photographer from Korea who studied Japanese for a year and now speaks fluently. I also called home for the first time on Easter Sunday. Unfortunately the international phone was impossible to find so a Japanese police officer took me through two ticket barricades at Shin-Osaka station just to reach the telephone and find out my phone card didn’t work. It was not only difficult to buy a phone card at a local kioske, but also to hear Gram’s voice for the first time in ages. I began crying and couldn’t understand a word anyone said. After the time expired I wiped my eyes while the police officer guided me through the ticket barricades. I searched vainly for a toilet and didn’t find one until taking the escalator to Floor 2. And heaven forbid there be any toilet paper. I had to exit the washroom and ask a nearby saleswoman for tissue so I could blow my nose. Then, hoping there wasn’t mascara running down my face like Alice Cooper, I boarded the train to Kyoto. My friends from Kanazawa (Tomohiro and his father Miki) were waiting at Booth 0. Miki bought us Easter cake, then we toured the terrace temple, Kyoto station, Atom boy shop, tea ceremony, and gardens!!