• ⇤
• ⇽
• ≡
• ⇾
• ⇥

gaijin comic relief

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

We're visiting my wife's family in rural Japan. Everybody sleeps in one big room. Except when I wake them.

It was 01:00 on 2010/01/01, a magical moment I suppose. I'd finished corresponding with people back in the old country (and still back in the '00s) and was tiptoeing around all of the tidy futons to where mine waited. Not wanting to tread on any heads, I kept a wide berth. And stepped on a toy trian.

The train sprang to electronic life, and blared, "All aboard!" Then followed some train sounds while everybody in the room woke up. Eventually I managed to switch it off while the electronic voice of the supposed frog engineer said, "Engineer Leap here. And Larry! And Tad!" But I pressed the wrong button and instead of shutting up (as I was by now hissing at it to do) the thing started to sing the song for the letter on the top surface of the block pressed into the train's cargo car: "'V' says 'vuh'; 'V' says 'vuh', every letter makes a sound."

Before the second verse ('V' says 'vuh'; 'V' says 'vuh, now my trian is going 'round) could begin, I'd finally silenced it. Far too late, of course, everyone was laughing at my continued noise making. In the morning I was thanked for providing the first laugh of the year.