Omoshiroi!

"Ame ga futeimasu" piped in the radio DJs voice over my car radio. I could see that.The wiper in front of me was swishing wildly.Whats more I realised I had understood every word of that sentence in Japanese. Made me think just how far I had come in almost a year of living in Tokyo. You might have guessed it meant 'Its raining".

I still remember the queasy feeling I had last year when it was time to pack up and leave Legoland Singapore. 3 parts excitement, 2 parts sadness and 2 parts fear made up the cocktail of surging emotions. This might be the exact feeling bungee jumpers get before jumping off the cliff (sadness at the possibility of not seeing loved ones ever again!). Japan was the Land of the Unknown, right up there on the map - strange language, alien culture where people bowed and wore kimonos and gosh no phone-in grocer who understands "nimbu" (lemon) and "dhaniya" (coriander)! Singapore was afterall the kind of place where you could curl up and sleep for the rest of your life. From where you have to be dragged out for a whiff of 'dangerous' air. And when you do- you have forgotten what a challenge looks like. Challenge meter reading always : zero.

One year on and after my challenge meter has seen some vigorous activity (threatening to burn out a few times)-

I am no longer fazed by hearing a strange language and giving a go at speaking it.

I am ok with the feeling of being surrounded by a mass of swirls, strokes and symbols saying important things I may or may not always understand. I can read two out of three Japanese scripts (hiragana and katakana- easy and phonetic) and can recognise roughly 50-60 'kanji' (Chinese charecters - of a total of some 5000! Now theres a start) . The latter is normally done easily by the child in me....oh its that symbol with a pointy hat and three sun rays which means 'switch on' or whatever. Ever tried learning something that is pictorial and can be understood without uttering it phonetically? As fun as kindergarten. And most times enough in Japan to figure if you are lost or are about to eat an eel.

I am ok with spending hours in a public place without exchanging a single conversation with the millions around me. And knowing that I may not be able to, even if I wanted to. Though I can now ask for things in a shop, direct a cab or tell someone I'm lost and if they can kindly tell me the way. And when they do I mostly understand what they are saying. And most importantly tell a waiter that I dont eat fish or meat and if theres is a vegetarian dish on the menu.

I (and family including my 11 year old) am comfortable walking miles and miles of subway, changing lines , after doing some complex plotting on the map of how to get from A TO B (via C,D and E).You see in the small island of Singapore one was never more than a direct 15 minute comfortable cab ride away (and the driver spoke the same language) or taking the subway meant hopping onto one of two lines (N-S, E-W - rarely the N-E) after being transported there by a few speedy escalators. In Tokyo subways often you got to do it the old fashioned way- climb up and down stairs on own two legs and walk miles and miles underground. No of lines? Go figure!

I am also comfortable with not hearing 'propah' subway names in clipped tones like 'Somerset' or 'City Hall' (Singapore).I am most at home listening to names like 'Kokkaigijudomae'!

I can now sanely process the endless zeros in Japanese money (5000, 10,000,20,000 yen....)

I no longer bother to shut cab doors (because they do on their own).

I guess I'm here to stay.

I could go on and on about the myths in my head I held sacred before Tokyo and how each one of them disappeared when challenged. One by one -popping into oblivion like soap bubbles.Tokyo questioned everything I believed in.Like speaking in complete correct sentences is necessary to human communication.That 3.30 pm could mean 3.29 or 3.31 pm (no it cant and it doesnt). Bills/bank statements are always in a language you understand.Paying 2 dollars for one capsicum is wrong.It made me realise there are other Planets man has discovered and life on those planets is really not bad!

Infact its utterly * 'omoshiroi'!!

(* interesting)