Chapter 7
Culture Shock
Before the tiny car reached the road, Lin had already proved to be a bit too much to leave alone in the back seat. She wouldn't stay seated, but nobody blamed her for being curious about the world. In an attempt to keep her from interrupting the doctor's driving, Ae changed from the front to the rear.
In a few minutes, the car made a left turn onto Route 24, headed westward toward Tsukuba City. While it was after 4:30 in the Yubaba's domain, it was mid-morning in Japan and the traffic was quite heavy. Lin had the opportunity to examine the new world at a much more relaxed pace, permitting her to ask innumerable questions about all she saw. Ae was thankfully there to answer the questions, because the doctor was getting irritated at the pace of the traffic.
Most of the manmade things Lin asked about seemed to meet with Lin's disapproval. She thought the telephone poles were extremely ugly, and didn't really care if telephones--whoever or whatever they were--could find a use for them. At least the birds seemed to find a use for the ropes that were strung between them. Automobiles were everywhere around her. Her acute senses of smell and hearing were assaulted relentlessly. Because of all the discomfort, she still had a difficult time grasping the need for the automobile.
"Doctor?"
"Yes, Lin-san?"
"Why are there places too far to walk?"
The doctor couldn't understand why she would ask such a question. He figured he'd try the simple approach. "Because we live in a large world."
"But, uh, if I leave home by walking, I surely would be able to walk home."
"Sometimes we need to travel to places away from home that are too far to walk." The doctor began to see what she was getting at. Lin still had animal sensibilities, and walking animals would live and nest near the things they needed. The same went for humans, until we learned to ride horses and later make automobiles. He knew that answer wouldn't be sufficient for Lin's curiosity, but he knew which way to steer subsequent questions. He had seen several of Yubaba's students in the past, and most of them were interested in how cars worked. This was the first time a student asked him the more fundamental question.
Mercifully for the doctor, Lin's attention shifted to a familiar character on a large sign. "Bathhouse!"
Ae spotted the same sign. Lin recognized the character correctly, but it wasn't for a bathhouse, but an advertisement for a water heater. "Very good, Lin-chan. I didn't know you knew that character. It means hot water, and that's what Yubaba hangs out in front of her place. It's also the first character in her name."
The car reached a red traffic signal and stopped. "Why are we stopped?"
Ae pointed up to the light over the road. "Traffic signal. It's telling us to stop."
"So if it's red, we have to stop. Why?"
That caught the doctor's attention. He spoke in English, "She can tell color differences?"
"Yes, she color understands, I think."
"I'll need to do a complete chemistry on her," he thought.
Lin had to ask a follow-up to a previous query. "What's a telephone? Does it live at the top of a pole?"
Ae replied, "It is something we use to talk to each other over long distances. People have telephones in their houses."
Lin was beginning to see the human race as rather stupid. "People use smelly and noisy automobiles that need all these roads to travel distances too far to walk just so they can use telephones that need these ugly poles. Where is the wisdom in that?"
Ae looked out and figured that about eighty percent of what she saw supported that notion. "Lin-chan," she sighed, "I wish your wisdom would rub off on my kind. I can't answer your question."
The doctor figured he could answer her question by example. As they approached the Highway 6 crossing, he remembered there was a large department store conveniently located on the left side of the road. As he promised to get her some books, the department store would be the perfect place. He pulled into the store's parking lot.
His plan was simple--and it worked only too well. He and Ae led Lin to the bookstore on the third floor, making sure they passed by the home electronics and toy departments. Lin had to be pried free every step of the way. He expected Lin to be especially enamored with television, and she did not disappoint him. "You know, Lin-san, that everything in this store came from places far away. This television was made in a place too far away to walk. The things the television was made of came from things too far away to walk from the place that made it. Without smelly cars, roads, and telephones, none of the things in this store would exist--not even the books we will buy today."
Lin's negative view of the world was tempered a bit, but she decided she still didn't like the smell and noise of the automobile.
Ae didn't realize it, but her view of the human world was also changing. Seeing all the human faces in the department store after several months brought her back toward human society and away from Yubaba's. She looked at Lin's face and, for the first time, saw her as other humans did. While she appeared human enough, there was something different about her. Her face and nose seemed slightly elongated and her forehead more curved. She also had more facial hair than normal. Ae's English vocabulary was limited, but she had to ask, "Doctor, Does she look like us? I think she a little different is."
The doctor correctly sensed what Ae was trying to ask. He replied, "Don't be silly. We are all different, aren't we? She is very cute now and will be beautiful when she grows up. Look at those eyes."
Ae realized the doctor was right when she looked again. Lin had the most beautiful almond-shaped brown eyes she had ever seen. She was almost embarrassed at the thought that it took a man who knew Lin for only an hour to point out that fact.
The doctor bought three picture books for Lin: one book on transportation, one on world geography, and one about life at home.
By the time the doctor reached the hotel, Lin had already read all three books.
Patrolman Futaba of the Ibaraki Prefectural Police saw the three get out of the car at the hotel. As it was a school hour, Lin caught his attention first. It was merely a reflex action, though, as the presence of adults signals a proper explanation. His attention immediately shifted, though, to the young woman who got out with her. There was something oddly familiar about her...
Culture Shock
Before the tiny car reached the road, Lin had already proved to be a bit too much to leave alone in the back seat. She wouldn't stay seated, but nobody blamed her for being curious about the world. In an attempt to keep her from interrupting the doctor's driving, Ae changed from the front to the rear.
In a few minutes, the car made a left turn onto Route 24, headed westward toward Tsukuba City. While it was after 4:30 in the Yubaba's domain, it was mid-morning in Japan and the traffic was quite heavy. Lin had the opportunity to examine the new world at a much more relaxed pace, permitting her to ask innumerable questions about all she saw. Ae was thankfully there to answer the questions, because the doctor was getting irritated at the pace of the traffic.
Most of the manmade things Lin asked about seemed to meet with Lin's disapproval. She thought the telephone poles were extremely ugly, and didn't really care if telephones--whoever or whatever they were--could find a use for them. At least the birds seemed to find a use for the ropes that were strung between them. Automobiles were everywhere around her. Her acute senses of smell and hearing were assaulted relentlessly. Because of all the discomfort, she still had a difficult time grasping the need for the automobile.
"Doctor?"
"Yes, Lin-san?"
"Why are there places too far to walk?"
The doctor couldn't understand why she would ask such a question. He figured he'd try the simple approach. "Because we live in a large world."
"But, uh, if I leave home by walking, I surely would be able to walk home."
"Sometimes we need to travel to places away from home that are too far to walk." The doctor began to see what she was getting at. Lin still had animal sensibilities, and walking animals would live and nest near the things they needed. The same went for humans, until we learned to ride horses and later make automobiles. He knew that answer wouldn't be sufficient for Lin's curiosity, but he knew which way to steer subsequent questions. He had seen several of Yubaba's students in the past, and most of them were interested in how cars worked. This was the first time a student asked him the more fundamental question.
Mercifully for the doctor, Lin's attention shifted to a familiar character on a large sign. "Bathhouse!"
Ae spotted the same sign. Lin recognized the character correctly, but it wasn't for a bathhouse, but an advertisement for a water heater. "Very good, Lin-chan. I didn't know you knew that character. It means hot water, and that's what Yubaba hangs out in front of her place. It's also the first character in her name."
The car reached a red traffic signal and stopped. "Why are we stopped?"
Ae pointed up to the light over the road. "Traffic signal. It's telling us to stop."
"So if it's red, we have to stop. Why?"
That caught the doctor's attention. He spoke in English, "She can tell color differences?"
"Yes, she color understands, I think."
"I'll need to do a complete chemistry on her," he thought.
Lin had to ask a follow-up to a previous query. "What's a telephone? Does it live at the top of a pole?"
Ae replied, "It is something we use to talk to each other over long distances. People have telephones in their houses."
Lin was beginning to see the human race as rather stupid. "People use smelly and noisy automobiles that need all these roads to travel distances too far to walk just so they can use telephones that need these ugly poles. Where is the wisdom in that?"
Ae looked out and figured that about eighty percent of what she saw supported that notion. "Lin-chan," she sighed, "I wish your wisdom would rub off on my kind. I can't answer your question."
The doctor figured he could answer her question by example. As they approached the Highway 6 crossing, he remembered there was a large department store conveniently located on the left side of the road. As he promised to get her some books, the department store would be the perfect place. He pulled into the store's parking lot.
His plan was simple--and it worked only too well. He and Ae led Lin to the bookstore on the third floor, making sure they passed by the home electronics and toy departments. Lin had to be pried free every step of the way. He expected Lin to be especially enamored with television, and she did not disappoint him. "You know, Lin-san, that everything in this store came from places far away. This television was made in a place too far away to walk. The things the television was made of came from things too far away to walk from the place that made it. Without smelly cars, roads, and telephones, none of the things in this store would exist--not even the books we will buy today."
Lin's negative view of the world was tempered a bit, but she decided she still didn't like the smell and noise of the automobile.
Ae didn't realize it, but her view of the human world was also changing. Seeing all the human faces in the department store after several months brought her back toward human society and away from Yubaba's. She looked at Lin's face and, for the first time, saw her as other humans did. While she appeared human enough, there was something different about her. Her face and nose seemed slightly elongated and her forehead more curved. She also had more facial hair than normal. Ae's English vocabulary was limited, but she had to ask, "Doctor, Does she look like us? I think she a little different is."
The doctor correctly sensed what Ae was trying to ask. He replied, "Don't be silly. We are all different, aren't we? She is very cute now and will be beautiful when she grows up. Look at those eyes."
Ae realized the doctor was right when she looked again. Lin had the most beautiful almond-shaped brown eyes she had ever seen. She was almost embarrassed at the thought that it took a man who knew Lin for only an hour to point out that fact.
The doctor bought three picture books for Lin: one book on transportation, one on world geography, and one about life at home.
By the time the doctor reached the hotel, Lin had already read all three books.
Patrolman Futaba of the Ibaraki Prefectural Police saw the three get out of the car at the hotel. As it was a school hour, Lin caught his attention first. It was merely a reflex action, though, as the presence of adults signals a proper explanation. His attention immediately shifted, though, to the young woman who got out with her. There was something oddly familiar about her...