But if what she was speaking WAS actually Chinese, she might understand a bit of Kanji. If she does, wouldn't I be able to communicate with her by writing Kanji?

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

A memory came back to me in a flash, a memory of a night I spent at Tioman Island, Malaysia more than ten years ago, enjoying some conversation with Chinsese boys from Singapore, by writing Kanjis on a piece of paper.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

So I decided to give it a shot since I had nothing to lose. Rather awkwardly, I handed her a piece of paper and a pen, which I usually carried in my bag in case I might need them when something like this happened.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

The girl scribbled something and handed me back the paper. As I looked over it beneath the light attached to an appartment building that stood at the side of the street ( you see, it was already completely dark ), I recognized a set of familiar Kanjis. It said 'Kamitakaido'.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

As I raised my face to see her's, I saw an expression of anxiety.

Perhaps she might be trying to get to Kamitakaido though she didn't know how to get there, I thought. But then she took the paper in my hand and started to write something again.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

I peered over the paper and it said 'xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic )'.

Hmmmmnnn??? I think I've seen that somewhere ... . Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing the name on Obaba's patient's registration card. That means it's supposed to be somewhere near my house, since that old lady Obaba must not be able go that far on foot.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Besides, I think I've seen the signboard of that eye clinic somewhere near my house, and if my memory is right, I think I know where it is.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

But even if this 'xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic )' was the one that I thought of, I mean I wasn't perfectly sure about the exact location, it was quite apart from Kamitakaido, the first destination that she had written on the paper.

Which was it that she really wanted to get to, Kamitakaido or xx-gannka ( xx-eye clinic )?

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

While I went into a serious thinking mode, the girl kept explaining her troubled situation desperately ... in Chinese ... .

Oh, I'm terribly sorry Miss, but I don' understand a word of Chinese, I thought as I tried to tell her by writing Kanjis on the paper and using gestures, that I'm going the same way and I could go part of the way with you.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Somehow she seemed to understand what I was trying to tell her, and we started to walk together. Good. So it worked, I thought. However, we had to walk about 10 to 15 minute's more from the place that we've met in order to reach the xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ), and she, maybe getting a little worried because it took longer than she had expected, went on talking away in Chinese ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Well, now I was in trouble.

I couldn't understand a word she was saying though she kept talking on and on, and I wasn't quite sure where we were supposed to be headed for. I just simply wanted to help her, but I could be getting her into even more trouble instead ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Err? Now wait a minute.

There was approximately one person in my family who can speak a would-be Chinese! That person had started to brush up her Chinese skills since 10 or so years ago. I've heard before that she'd dipped into it, in her second foreign language class during her school days. What made her start it again was probably ... well, I guess she's figured that she won't be able to beat us children in English, after hearing our scores of the TOEIC, and a number of other English skill's tests.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Anyway, I thought it was a brilliant idea. That person JoOusama, could be able to help us out of trouble ... hopefully.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

My house was right on the way to xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ), so I could stop by and ask JoOusama for help. And if her would-be Chinese turned out to be of little use, in that case I can check Obaba's patient registration card, to at least find out where exactly the xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ) was located.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

So I led the Chinese girl who has been endlessly talking Chinese all the way to the front of my house, and walking through the front gate, I told her that I'll get someone who can speak Mandarin.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

But as she saw me walking through the gate towards the front door, she suddenly freezed.

Well, she's got a good reason for that. We were supposed to be headed for the xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ), when all of a sudden this tiny Japanese is going into some house. With me not understanding a word she says, in a foreign country already after dark, how insecure it must have felt to her. I won't blame her for being suspicious.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

I ran into the kitchen where I thought I'd find JoOusama, briefly explained the situation in about 2 seconds, and asked her for help. JoOusama went out the house and as I followed after her, she already seemed to be talking with the girl in her would-be Chinese.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Wooooow, so it wasn't actually a 'would-be' after all. I was impressed to find that JoOusama could communicate in Chinese, when she turned to me and said 'I can't understand what she's saying'.

WHAAAATTT!?What-do-ya-mean 'you can't understand'?And you're giving it up already!?Oh, she's pathetic ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

I explained the whole story of what had happened that evening to JoOusama, about how I had met the Chinese girl, the conversation we had writing Kanji on paper, about the destination she had written on the paper, about the Kamitakaido and the xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ).

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

With the assistance of my explanation, JoOusama finally seemed to understand what the Chinese girl was trying to tell her.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

JoOusama seemed to know where the xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ) was, and she offered to take the girl to the clinic. So all three of us started walking towards xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ), less than 3 minutes away from our house. ( Now I've found out that I was right about its location. )

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

When we reached the xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ), the Chinese girl thanked us again and again with her hands joined in front of her, and saying 'Taw-she, taw-she' which I figured must mean 'thank you very much', for I remembered that the Kanji representing 'taw-she' literally meant 'many thanks'. I must have seen or heard or read about it somewhere before.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Then she said 'Zai-chen' which I already knew from general knowledge that it meant 'see you again', and took a turn at the corner of xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ), vanishing into the darkness.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

After me and JoOusama had seen her off into the dark, I tried asking JoOusama what the girl had been talking all the way in Chinese. 'I could say what I want to in Chinese, but I don't understand what they're saying,' said she ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

HEEeeeeyyyy!! That means you're the same with Obaba! Obaba had told me a couple of nights ago, that it didn't matter to her if she could not hear a sound of what people said, as long as she was able to say whatever she wanted to, when I asked her if she had heard what I've said.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Oh man, these people never seem to listen to anyone. I guess it can't be helped if JoOusama wasn't listening to what the Chinese girl had told her, when she doesn't even listen to what people say in her mother language, Japanese ... .

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

According to JoOusama's such unreliable hearing skills, the girl was trying to get to her friend's house that she was gonna stay for the night, and xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ) was supposed to be the landmark to get there.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

The Chinese girl seemed to know the way from xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ) to her friend's house, though she seemed to have taken a taxi from somewhere to unfortunately be dropped off at some place not near from xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ), only to find herself lost after dark in a foreign country.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Poor girl, that must have been quite a trouble, but I was both relieved and glad to see that she reached xx-ganka ( xx-eye clinic ) safely. As I was enjoying a moment of happiness, there was a word from JoOusama.

'She said it's only been 2 days since she got here', said JoOusama.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar

Whaaatt!? 2 days???How could she go out on her own in just 2 days since she came to this country, when she can't understand a word of Japanese?Wow, isn't she a challenger. I wonder what her friend was doing all this time. Shouldn't her friend go with her? She's only been here for 2 days, you know.

To be Continued ...

Caterpillar