Missionary Moments

This last week Jakob wrote......

I had an adventure this week. So here in Japan we have a thing called a Gaijin card, which is our ID while living here, pretty important. I was making photocopies of it in a Convini (convenience store), about 40 minutes out from our apartment. We left and rode home. About 10pm, when I was finishing up some extra study and was about to get ready for bed, I realized I'd left the card in the photocopier....

The very next day was an all day MultiZone training meeting, so we did not have time to to get it. So Friday we rode back out to find it. The Japanese are very helpful. As soon as I walked into the convini (probably 1000's would go into one each day) a lady came up and started nattering at me, realised she was telling me about the card, one of the workers had took it to the police station, I guess they don't get many gaijin that look like me come in very often. Went there and it was abandoned. We asked a few people when the Police would be back but no one knew. Then one person we asked was an off duty officer himself, and contacted the Police that worked at the station. They came and interviewed me and got me to sign stuff. They were so friendly and relaxed. Not too much crime to worry about in Japan. The one who interviewed me gave me his name and details, so we could be friends or something. Found out my card was taken to a big Police station about 20 minutes away, so had to go out there. Stopped at the wrong one to begin with, but eventually reached the place, walked in and pretty much had the whole station there ready to greet me and hand the card over, like I was famous. Heh. Took almost all day. But I have my card now.

We had lunch with a potential investigator on Saturday. It was a good lunch, but he talked non stop in really difficult Japanese the whole time. Yoshida Choro was asking him to repeat stuff, but I just smiled and nodded and answered with what I could, perhaps giving off the impression I knew what he was talking about. He then asked me to please translate for my friend and waited patiently while I 'translated' what he had been saying. Hmmm... Managed to bluff my way through it. Turned out to be alright. I think I actually understood a lot more than I thought was possible. We visited a member who was in Hospital after that, same kinda thing happened. She talked a whole lot to me (thinking I understood) and didn't really say much at all to Yoshida choro (thinking he knew nothing). Lots of fun pretending to be Senior companion.