That Girl Got Jokes!

That Girl Got Jokes

Poor Mr. Nuttel. He just wants a friend! And then the niece just has to go and mess with his already messed up head.

When reading Saki’s “The Open Window,” I immediately felt sympathy for Mr. Nuttel.  I was hoping he would become a friend of Mrs. Sappleton.  As the niece told the horrible story of the disappearance of Mrs. Sappleton’s husband and brothers, I began to feel sorry for Mrs. Sappleton as well.  I just knew that Mr. Nuttel and Mrs. Sappleton would make great friends.

O how I was fooled as well.  That little niece is a liar! She needs to be set straight.  To fool that poor man was just wrong considering his condition.  She didn’t even know him! And then she told her family that he left because he was scared of dogs. Psh! I don’t blame him for leaving.  I’m sure he has other letters of introduction with families that don’t have little rascals like that niece running around.  It’s only a matter of time until the family realizes what she’s done and sets her straight. I’d like to see that!

The Lazy Buddhist

Oh my… where to begin? My last visit with Eiko was AWESOME! I loved it! I went to her apartment and got to spend time with her and Haruka in a relaxed and playful environment. I feel so blessed to have been partnered with her.

            I brought Haruka a present, a Playdoh Ice Cream Shop, so naturally that’s what she was most excited about.  Eiko was so thankful and a bit more surprised than I expected that I brought her daughter a gift.  I’m not sure if that’s just not what they do, but I hope it wasn’t too much.

            I’m not going to lie; I also had a ton of fun playing with the Playdoh.  As I helped Haruka, Eiko and I had a chance to talk.  We talked about Haruka’s first day at Japanese school and some other random things.  When I mentioned my plans for Easter, she asked me if we had Good Friday off of school.  I answered and then decided to go a little further.  Not sure if I was overstepping my boundaries, I asked her about her faith.  She told me they were Buddhist.  Actually, she referred to herself as a lazy Buddhist because they do not worship regularly.  She then laughed and told me that on Monday, Wednesday and Friday Haruka attends a Christian school, on Tuesday and Thursday a Jewish school, and on Saturday at Japanese school she learns about Buddhism.

            All in all, it was great spending time with her.  We drank coffee together and she let me try a Japanese cake snack, which was quite delicious.  Right now, Eiko and her family are on a Disney Cruise in the Caribbean and I can’t wait to hear all about their trip.  I wish I was on the beach somewhere too instead of in the TCU Library!

Wait... What?

Same format as the last… Before research and after research! This seems to be an effective way to analyze these stories for me.

Before Research:

            I have no idea what “The Sea Change” by Hemingway is talking about.  At first I thought the girl wanted to have an abortion. When she says, “No, I can’t,” and the man says, “No, you won’t,” I took that as discussing abortion.  I guess I am still thinking about our previous class.  As the story continued, I changed my mind.  I think they are talking about cheating.  I believe that the woman has been unfaithful to the man, who still loves her very much, but is trying not to.

            Whatever the case is, it was something big.  It is something that changed their relationship forever.  When the girl asks, “Don’t you really believe I love you?” the guy tells her to prove it.  We learn that this would not have happened in the past.

            At one point, the girl says, “Poor Phil,” so I assume she’s talking about the man.  I also think that Phil could be the other man she loves, so for now I’m going to just refer to the man in the story as the man.

            It is obvious that James, the barman, plays a significant role in this story, but I can’t seem to figure it out.  He does seem to be very observant when it comes to his clients in the bar.

            In the end, the girl gets her way.  She leaves the bar to go pursue whatever it is.  As she leaves, she doesn’t look back.  The man, however, watches her leave for a while before going to the bar.  To me, it seems that he loves her more than she loves him.

After Research:

            I feel like I actually understood this story a bit better.  While Hemingway stuck to his iceberg effect, I think that this story is a bit more obvious than some of the others. In an analysis I found of the story, it is said that the girl had been involved in a romantic affair.  The girl seems to deny and admit her affair, but in the end she leaves to go pursue her affair (or as I stated earlier, “whatever it is”). 

            Like I mentioned earlier, I feel like the rest of the characters in the story have some importance, but I wasn’t sure what.  In an analysis I read, they were briefly mentioned as being gay.  I’m not sure if I agree with this, but it would make sense.  If the man (Phil) was also gay, it would give the girl a reason not to love him the same way she did before.  It is possible that he is also gay because at the end of the story, he joins the men at the bar and the barman seems to know him well, ironically saying he must have had a good summer.

Before and After

I have enjoyed reading the works of Hemingway, but I struggle with interpreting them on my own. For my responses, I have decided to write what I think when only reading the story and what I think after researching the story. So here it goes…

Before Research:

            “Cat in the Rain” is a story about a woman who is striving to get out of her relationship.  She is trapped by her husband who controls her every move.  Come to find out, as she and her husband is staying at a hotel, the hotel-keeper strikes her fancy.  The woman uses a cat in the rain as an excuse to go downstairs and see the hotel-keeper.  Although they don’t speak, he takes care of her.  He sends a maid with an umbrella while she’s outside and he bows to her out of courtesy and respect as she passes by.  The woman uses this man and his generosity to escape the life she lives now.  When she returns upstairs to her husband, she begins talking about things SHE wants.  They are small things such as long hair, a cat, new clothes, etc.  Her husband ignores all her requests and tells her to just read a book.  At the end, the maid comes to the room with the cat in her hand and tells her that it’s from the hotel-keeper.  This is a sure sign to the woman that she needs a man like the hotel-keeper, not the one she’s married to.

After Research:

            So for the most part, I understood the story.  After researching, however, there are key elements I looked over.  Yes, the woman wants many things because of her lack of a relationship with her husband, but he shouldn’t take the full blame.  He tries to compliment her and she doesn’t pay attention to it.  Also, I seemed to completely ignore the Italians in this story.  Considering it is only one line of the text, I guess I understand why.  It’s interesting how that one line contrasts the American couple so much.  Because of it, we see that Italians have a sense of adventure and learning outside of a hotel and reading books, something that the American woman seems to desire.  If the Italians go to the square to see the monument, why do the Americans just stay inside and read? Maybe if it weren’t raining it’d be different. My guess is, it wouldn’t.

All About Earthquakes!

Today, April 4, I met with Eiko again. We met at the TCU Bookstore for a cup of coffee before my classes started. It was nice to chat with her without her daughter.  It’s easier to talk to her that way.

We only had about an hour, but it was plenty of time.  We started with small talk about our weeks. She asked me how my test the previous week went and I asked about her weekend.  She told me that they took Haruka to see Disney on Ice in Dallas.  I’m not going to lie, I was a bit jealous of that.

Again, I asked about her family back in Japan.  They are still fine, but worried about the water.  This led to talking about earthquakes.  I’ve never experienced one myself, but Eiko is a pro.  She said it happens all the time, something I had heard but it never really hit home for me.  She also explained that they had earthquake drills in school, just like we have fire and tornado drills. 

I thought it was interesting how different our conditions are in America as opposed to Japan.  In Japan, they are used to earthquakes.  They require earthquake drills in schools and build their buildings stronger, among many other precautions.  These are concerns that most Americans don’t have.  Not once have I woken up thinking, “I wonder if I will experience an earthquake today?”

I asked Eiko how frequent earthquakes happen in Japan.  At first it took her a while to understand the question, but then she finally started to figure it out.  She said about one every other month. I was not expecting that at all! She explained that because of Tokyo’s location, if the center of the earthquake is in north or south Japan, Tokyo will feel a little bit of the quake in addition to the earthquakes that are closer to Tokyo.

The last thing she said about earthquakes was that it is being predicted that the next earthquake off the coast of Tokyo will be a large one.  No one knows when or exactly how big, but apparently it’s supposed to be a real doozie.  Apparently Tokyo is taking precautions, but there is no way of knowing how much should be done.

All in all, it was a great meeting.  We have already scheduled our next two meetings.  Eiko seems very excited to meet with me each time and I feel the same way.  It’s nice to take a break from school and chat with her because she has so much to share.  Today she told me that she appreciates me helping her with her English speaking and that it really is helping her.  That really meant a lot to me.

Japanese School

I met with Eiko on March 30^th for lunch after she picked up her daughter, Haruka, from school.  As always it was an enjoyable conversation and time spent with her.  I will admit, though, it is hard to chat when there is a vivacious four year old sitting there with you.

We went to Panera Bread, one of my favorites, and one of her favorites, too! I immediately asked about her family still in Japan.  She told me that being in Tokyo, they are fine.  They felt the shock of the earthquake, but did not have any damage from the tsunami.  She said the most damage they had was from plates falling out of cabinets and breaking.  Most importantly, she said they are worried about the drinking water because there is no bottled water in the stores and they are just waiting on the government.

I was glad to hear that they were okay.  I then asked if this would affect their plans to go to Japan this summer.  She told me they had already cancelled their flights, but that her family was making arrangements to come to Texas instead. They try and see their family at least once a year so that Haruka can experience true Japanese culture.

My favorite part of our conversation was when she started telling me about a new school that Haruka is attending.  It is a Japanese school in Dallas.  She will go every Saturday starting in April and participate in activities similar to those of Japanese schools. I laugh because I just watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding and this reminded me of how they all had to go to Greek school.  I'm just glad I didn't have to go to Lebanese school. I learned that the Japanese school year starts in April and ends in March.  That may be just a little too much school for me! After a bit more explanation, though, it sounds like they also have frequent breaks, so maybe it’s about the same. 

I’m looking forward to meeting with Eiko without her daughter.  I love Haruka’s company, but it would be nice to talk to Eiko without the distraction. More to come!