Sagamihara

I used to think of Sagamihara as the 'Mississauga of Tokyo' but recently I have learned it is more like the "Scarborough".
I went and got my haircut on Sunday (Its really short... still rocking the faux hawk but when the lady showed me a picture of these audacious red bangs and said "Is this good?" and I said no, she literally cut off my bangs completely. At Least it will grow back (so there bald people HA).
Anyways this lady (a larger woman with tattoos all over her) accosted me. She asked me if I was a soldier (I live near an army base and my hair got chopped off so I pardon such a question) to which I told her I was an English teacher. She went on to tell me she used to live in Texas and was married to an American. Anyways she is now divorced and is worried that her daughter's English will deteriorate. Standing beside us was a girl who looked about 14 and was clearly half-white. So I say hello and agree that I could do a model lesson to the daughter and if she likes me I will do private lessons for her.
Then the mom tells me its for her other daughter (age 9) who is at her grandparents house right now (2 train stations north of where I live). I am a little taken aback as I really don't want to teach a young child lessons outside of the safety of a school. Parents can be protective of their children after all and Japan is very much racist toward foreign people so you could see how a wild accusation could go a long way. But at this point I have already given her my number and agreed to teaching her daughter (thinking it was the older one). As soon as I get home I get a call from the mom informing me she had just cooked dinner and if I wanted to meet her in front of the Yamada (electronics shop) where we had met earlier I could come over for dinner. I said okay.
I immediately realized how stupid I was and send an e-mail to Ken telling him the situation to that point and that he should come looking for my abused and decaying body if I don't e-mail him in a few hours. I get to Yamada and see the daughter I had met earlier waiting for me. We make some small talk then get to the apartment.
The apartment is a tiny 1DK (One Bedroom, Dining Room, Kitchen) with bunk beds in the dining room for the two girls. The younger of which is suspiciously not there (and I had brought some books and print outs and toys to show her). Apparently she was not coming home that night and I was there for social purposes. lovely. If I am not uncomfortable enough sitting around this tiny table squeezed against the wall realizing the mom may not have the money to pay for me everything that happens from then on does the trick.
The mom starts off the conversation with "do you like Jager Bombs?" I mean I am already there so I say sure. Unfortunately she is out of Red Bull so it is just straight Jager. After that it is champagne. Elegantly poured into a glass filled with ice (a big juice glass so the bottle evenly splits between the two). The mom tells me that she is often very lonely (Tattoos are a huge stigma here so it is difficult to meet new friends) and she likes to meet foreign people.
I rebuff by talking about my girlfriend. She says she has a boyfriend too, who lives in Texas. This makes me wonder if maybe its part of the reason she is divorced. The picture she shows me of her 27 year old boyfriend (she is mid 40s) is him with his arm around Britney Spears (apparently he went to her concert and after waited to meet her). So I realize I am being paranoid and she was not somehow trying to pick me up in front of her daughter. Until she asked how old I was and said she thought I was a few years younger. So perhaps the set up was for the daughter?!
She also told me the dad (who I assumed lived in Texas) lives one station away (like a 20 minute walk) from them! Why can't they talk with him in English?
The mom downs her wine in like 10 minutes, tells me to drink up as I am lagging and when I am half finished my glass, she opens up a bottle of wine and pours part of it into my half glass of Champagne!
Afterwards she invites me to watch a movie, not wanting to be rude I say ok. The movie? Borat. So we are all crammed onto the bottom bunk (the elder daughters bed!) watching Borat together. Around the time when they are wrestling naked (Borat and his friend NOT the mom and daughter) the uncomfortableness really peaked.
After the movie I excuse myself and go home. On the way home she sends me an e-mail with two of her friends pictures in it and says they are looking for foreign boyfriends. The one is Thai and liable to be a lady boy!






The worst part is I can't help but feel sorry for the girls. Living with a mom like that and being half foreign would be incredibly difficult for them. But, I still have to avoid that situation like the plague.