Where do you live?

Muramatsu-sensei, who teaches music and calligraphy at School B, want to know where I live.  She has asked at least four times.  At first, I acted like I didn’t understand the question.  The second time, she asked in English.  Why does she need to know?  Is she going to offer me a ride on rainy days?  Or is she just trying to come over out of curiosity of how foreigners live?

In Korea, I learned not to share any information with any co-teacher that I didn’t want the entire staff to know.  When it comes to foreigners there is no such thing as confidentiality or respect for privacy.  The most insignificant things about us are fodder for gossip.  So I answer certain questions vaguely or not at all. 

I told her that I live right here in the same city as the school.  But that was not enough.  She pressed me for the exact neighborhood.  I know the name of my neighborhood.  It’s part of the address I write on documents.  It’s also the first thing drivers want to know when I get in their taxis.  However, I told her that I live between the train station and the stadium, which spans a few kilometers.  That was not specific enough for her.  Kyoto-sensei overheard our conversation and chimed in saying that I live in Koizuka.  First of all, nobody was talking to you.  Second, how do you know where I live?  Third, while Koizuka is close to where I live, you’re wrong.  I live in a nearby neighborhood.  Not that it’s any of your business.  (See what I mean by these people having zero problem sharing our information with each other?)

A few days later, in the staffroom, the kyushoku woman, who may or may not be friends with Muramasu-sensei, asks me which supermarket I shop at.  Had to laugh to myself.  These women think they’re clever.  I shop at two stores because one doesn’t carry everything I need.  One, around the corner from my apartment the other, about a 15 minute walk away.  I responded with the name of the farther one.  “Which one,” she asks.  The one in Enko neighborhood, I say.  “Oh, Enko,” she repeats knowingly.  People almost always stick to supermarkets in their own neighborhoods, so it’s reasonable to assume that if I shop in Enko, I live there too.  Her assumptions are none of my concern.  I told no lies.  

March 25, 2020