Pay it Forward

I can usually best express my emotions and thoughts through other people's words. I often hear my thoughts in quotes, lyrics & movies. I don't have the talent of imagery to reveal all my inner most thoughts, my daily experiences, what I feel deep down inside through writing or even with speech.

With this in mind; I ask you to think of the movie, Pay it Forward. If you have seen it - you don't need this explanation. If you haven't seen it - I will give a brief synopsis. Basically, there is a young boy who starts something called Pay it Forward, You do one nice thing for three people. In turn, you ask those people to do one nice thing to 3 other people. After some time, the niceness people will be doing for others will grow exponentially- and ideally make the world a better place.

Certainly, I could spit out circumstance after situation after problem of ways that Japanese people have gone out of their way to help me out. If you read back into my blog - you will probably see one example per week.

However; it's not always the people that make a difference in my life when I need help. It's also the people that I encounter daily. It's the people that don't even know they are making my day better. It's the people that make me feel less isolated, less introverted, less of a foreigner.

Let me give some examples.

There is the man at the Post Office. At one point, he knew more English than I did Japanese. I imagine now the case is the opposite. When I first arrived here, I went to the post office to send my mail out. I said my few words I needed to send my mail - air mail and to America, please. Later on, I needed money transferred - which you do at the Post Office in Japan - however, I did the form all wrong and encountered a lot of problems. I spent an hour there - taking care of it. Since then, everytime I go into the Post Office, he gets off his desk and comes and says hello to me. When he delivers my packages to school, he comes personally. When a package gets dropped off and I am not there - he asks if I got it okay the next time I am in the Post Office. He is always smiling and it makes my day.

Then there is the gas station lady. In Japan, they have self service and full service. Since you don't have to pay extra or tip to get it full serviced - why struggle trying to read the gas pump? Everytime my car pulls in, I have two high school kids running over to fill my tank, wipe down my car and whatnot. Then, there is the lady - possibly the owner, manager, I'm not sure. What I do know - is she always comes out and talks to me. Granted - I can't really understand half of what she is saying to me - but she is always out there with a huge smile on her face - talking to me. Again, a huge smile - and every time I leave that gas station after seeing her - I feel so grateful to be in Japan. One time she gave me some flowers, which are still alive and beautiful. Yesterday, she gave me a calendar.

Then - there is the school nurse. She doesn't speak any English - but even when I didn't know enough Japanese to speak to her - she always smiled at me. A lot of times, the teachers at my schools are so busy - that I just sit at my desk - with no interaction. Not her - she always smiled at me. She reminds me of my Aunt Lynn. I am so happy I can finally chat with her a bit.

Yesterday, I went Christmas shopping in the city. I went to the big department store in the city. I was looking at some items for my sister for her gift. This woman came over and started chatting to me - I think asking if I was looking for anything in particular. I told her I was Christmas shopping for my family. This turned into a 10 minute conversation about the usual - where I am from, how long I've been in Japan for, how long I want to stay for, about being an English teacher, about her daughter, about her going to Florida for DisneyWorld and that it is much bigger than the one in Tokyo, etc. Shortly after, another girl comes over - and the woman that I was talking to - told her about me. Soon - this girl - two years younger than me - but seemed atleast 5 years older - made my night even better. She asked how much I wanted to spend, about my sister to try to help me find the perfect gift. Her name was Emi- Emi had the best laugh and just so bubbly and smiling. I rarely encounter that in Japan. It was apology after apology that she doesn't know more English - but we were getting by just fine with our broken language conversation. These two women - made Christmas shopping so much more memorable and I want to go back and ask Emi to hang out sometime. She is awesome. I bet they have no idea how I smiled the entire 15 minutes walk back to my car because of their interaction with me.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone at home for the constant encouragement and support I receive. I decorated my first Christmas tree today thanks to my cousins. Thanks for all the cards everyone. I am such a lucky person to have the support when I'm in a valley of my life.

You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.
- John Bunyan

If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room. -Nantucket Nectars Cap