What the locals are saying and doing

Boy or girl? Well, every Japanese woman save 1 that I have asked is convinced we’re having a boy. The reason we’re having a boy is because the baby is high up and straight out or so I’m told. Usually the answer is preceded by the rubbing of my belly, a long view of my profile and all sorts of questions. Do you crave fruit or meat? What was the weather when you conceived? Are you tired? You’re not still driving your car are you? The belly rubbing is by far the most bizarre. This is a culture where all manner of salutations, thanks and respect are paid with varying degrees of bowing. Well, all the rules go out the window between women folk when one or more in the group are pregnant. This weirded me out at first. I had never been touched by a Japanese person until I was doing an English lesson with a dynamic group of ladies in Memuro. It was the first time most of us met. I did my usual self-introduction and for the heck of it I thru in the fact that I was 3 months pregnant. Man, talk about a sweet ice-breaker! These gals were so excited they were vibrating in their seats! By the end of the 90 minute session everyone in that room had either touched or rubbed my totally un-pregnant looking tummy. Now that I’m full on and very visibly pregnant there’s no stopping them! The best is the girls in my grade 1 and 2 classes. They stand under my tummy and wrap their arms around from the bottom up so all I see are these little waving hands in front of my face!

So far this is a phenomenon shared only amongst women. I’ve had the standard questions from the men. One of my VP’s asked me if the baby was moving a lot and I told him “Yup, it feels just like a big fish in there!” I’m not sure anyone had ever been that honest with him! On my last day of classes at his school he gave me a charm for a fast and easy birth from the local Shinto Shrine. It was a lovely gesture and had a definite touch affect on me. The guys are just much more sly about it I guess!