Rainy Season (tsuyu)

      Full attendance of five ladies in gray tones around the table for English Conversation on the Wednesday that marked the start of rainy season. Composer-san, 15 minutes late as usual, has been in the kitchen since 5 AM stirring vegetable soup and preparing obento (lunch boxes) for her grown daughters and husband-- isogashii (busy).  Two ladies slipped out of raincoats (one black, one white). With musume (daughter) about to graduate from high school, I circulated a prom photo. How grown up Western girls of 18 with lipstick appear! Thanks to Hollywood, our group has witnessed proms on the silver screen. Nihon no onna no ko (girls, literally : little women) are mere babies! Musume has an enviable alabaster complexion, they noted. (Drugstore shelves are laden with skin whitening products.) Like Princess Masako, I revealed, I needed medical intervention to have a baby; I pulled out the book I wrote 10 years back that describes my adventures in fertility treatment.

     "What is the English word that describes how you must feel now?" asked obaasan (grandma) of five. "Grateful" was the best my limited vocabulary could muster; nihongo offered a richer variety of adjectives (kangai, bugai) for feelings of joy, pain and reaching a goal after much hard work. Current events provided two hot topics: the premiere of Sex and the City 2, and the appointment of a new prime minister. Since Composer-san's family is busy making music, they have no time for television; in fact, she does not own a TV so just smiles broadly as she often does. Who is Sarah Jessica Parker? she wondered. Obaasan objected to the nudity, Chef-san looked forward to the fashions and Traveler-san chuckled at the prospect of light comedy. Driver-san was most informed on the actresses, perhaps since her daughter now lives in New York. All voted Kim Cattrall the most attractive of the bunch.

       As for the government shake-up, the group had high hopes for the new leader, Naoto Kan. "Our last prime minister and many of his cabinet members come from rich backgrounds," said Chef-san, leading to a discussion of the idiom "born with a silver spoon." Humorously, Kan's unofficial slogan  is "Yes we Kan." Obaasan elaborated: "Mr Kan comes from a regular family and his wife is very intelligent. We call her the Japanese Hillary. Every night she debates with her husband and he usually loses." Then why isn't Mrs Kan prime minister? I carefully posed. Obaasan replied," It is not in our culture." In the US we tell girls they can grow up to run for president, why not here? "Our lifestyle will change," was the consensus of these accomplished, well-traveled women. What of the Sex and The City roles? "Yes, we have more career women in Japan now but...it is a slow process." Yet how quickly the past 18 years have flown! At sundown tomorrow parents of 50-odd students will attend Yokohama International School graduation ceremony.