Town Crier

town crier –noun
1) an amazing 8 inch Qee designed by Tim Biskup (see picture)
2) a person employed by a town to make public announcements or proclamations, usually by shouting in the streets (see old lady at the bus stop)


This lady and I always ride the bus at the same time, and since we see each other often, we say good morning and such. She's a nice enough lady that puts up with repeating what she says so I can understand, but our conversations have gotten as far as "wow, look at the crow eat the trash" and "go ahead, here's the bus." Today, running late for the bus with a handful of crackers, she decides that enough is enough, and that she should know who I am and why I am still living there.

She asks if I live close by, and not wanting to seem like an old-woman stalker, I tell her the complex I live in. Her next question was if I was single, as residents of Japan are amazed that people can live on their own and not with their parents/wife to take care of them. Seeing where the conversation was going, I steered away and started talking about me being a student, and how I was working in Japan for the semester. Nothing much, just my University, and the company I work for. The bus comes, and off we go.

After work, I come back home, and at the stop before mine is a mother/daughter pair. The mother is probably in her 50's or 60's, with the daughter in her 30's. I ofcourse get the "he's not Japanese" inquisitive look, and they sit behind me. They continue to talk about me in hushed tones, mentioning my University, where I worked, my current dating status...things that strangers should not know about me. Curious where this new found knowledge came from, I thought back. All the way to this morning.

If you ever need to get a message to an entire borough in Japan, tell an old lady. Atleast this will save me from answering a few questions whenever I meet someone new.