Life in Fukuoka "English"

【My Mother in Japan】

In Japan, and the US, Mother's day is the second Sunday of May, which was yesterday. So, what did you do for Mother's day? I gave my mom and call and sent her a few things that she wanted from Japan. She's actually visited me a few times here and always seems to enjoy everything that she finds. My mom is originally from Korea but has lived in the US for over 40 years now and she's pretty Americanized.

I remember the first time she visited me here, I let her loose on the city. I had to work that day and gave her directions on how to get around but, she got a bit turned around and had to ask for directions. She approached an older gentleman on the street and tried to ask him how to get to the subway. He seemed confused as to why she was speaking English and answered her in Japanese, she looks like she could be Japanese as well... so she tried again saying something along the lines of “hey dude, I don't speak any Japanese. I've got Korean or English. So, help. Where is the subway? You know, the uh..train. Choo Choo!” He looked really confused (she reported all of this to me after) and she said choo choo again. He made a funny expression on his face, but she didn't give up, she made motions with her hands pulling the steam whistle and doing the movement of the wheels with her arms, saying chugga chugga chugga.

Somehow, he understood her and pointed her in the right direction. After she came back and told me all of this wondering why he had looked at her so funny, I said that maybe he thought she was asking for a kiss...chuuu chuuu!

Ah, she said. Nah he wasn't her type. So that's my mom! What's your mom like?