Yume to Dream

A young girl born in Japan breaks away from her very traditional family to go travelling. Nothing prepares her for the events ahead of her.

Letters in Italic is speech/writing in Japanese

 

Yume to Dream

 

Saitama, Japan 1970

 

1

 

Mei looked around the exam hall.  It was her last exam and everyone was working diligently through their papers.   It was so important to Mei that she achieved a good result but something was distracting her; it had been distracting her for weeks.  She used her studies as an excuse for not getting married and after this exam, there would be no excuse.  Most of her friends were now married and her mother frequently expressed her wish for Mei to get married.  But she wasn't ready.  She started trying to think of excuses but was interrupted by the sound of the clock ticking, which seemed as if it was getting louder.   

 

She pushed this worry to the back of her mind and carried on working her way through her English exam paper.  She turned the page and there was an exercise on booking a hotel room.  Suddenly, it hit Mei like a bolt of lightening.  She could go travelling.  She smiled and continued writing.  Time went so fast and before she knew it, the invigilator instructed the students to put their pens down.  Mei’s hand was aching because she had written so fast.  Row by row the students left the examination hall.  Mei was quite confident that she had done well, and she gleamed at the thought of travelling.  She had a quick chat with the other students and left as she knew they would discuss the exam and she just wanted to put it behind her. 

 

The pressure on her during the course of the last couple of months had been immense.  She decided to take the long way home.  She thought more and more about travelling and it felt so right.  She enjoyed the scenery and fresh air that she had missed out on over the last couple of months.  It was as if she had been walking around with her eyes closed for such a long time and finally she was able to open them again.  She took in the view of the river and people going for walks by it's banks and enjoying themselves.  Mei could feel the warm sun radiating on her face.  

 

When Mei finally arrived home after her long walk she removed her shoes and placed them neatly in the genkan^[1].  Her mother was cooking the evening meal as usual and her father was still at work, and due to be home soon.  Mei went to her room and put her bag down.  Her notes and books slid out, and a big smile spread across her face at the thought of never having to look at them again.   She put them in a box and stored them away in her cupboard. 

 

Mei helped her mother with preparing dinner [DW1] and then her father came home.  Everything in the house ran like clockwork.  He returned at almost exactly the same time every weekday, and Mei’s mother seemed to be able to have dinner ready just as he stepped in the house.  Mei’s father would step in, go to the bathroom, wash his hands and face and rinse his mouth before sitting at the dining table, which was situated in the sitting room.  Mei’s mother would serve her father some rice and Mei was in charge of dishing up for the rest of the family.

 

Dinner was as usual, Mei’s parents discussed the day’s events and her mother was also talking about her favourite subject: the neighbours.  A housewife, she spent a majority of her time at home so knowing all the neighbours business and gossiping about it was her favourite pastime.  “I saw Yamamoto-san^[2] today, " she said.  "She said she is looking for a husband for her daughter.  Her daughter is such a pretty girl; I don’t understand why she is finding it difficult to find someone.  Maybe there is something we don’t know about” Mei’s mother said. 

 

Mei’s father had mastered the skill of sounding interested but really, Mei knew he actually switched off when her mother started rambling on about the neighbours.   Mei’s brother Yasahiro, aged twelve, and sister Emiko, aged seven, also spoke about their day at school, but they were generally quite placid.  Mei sat and listened, no one seemed to remember that it had been her last day at college, but she didn’t mention anything. 

 

The routine continued after dinner.  Every night at nine o'clock, Mei’s father would have a bottle of beer and one cigarette.  Mei always thought that this expressed his character; it showed that he did like to indulge somewhat but the he also possessed great self-discipline.

 

The next day Mei woke up in a sweat after dreaming that she had an exam that she wasn’t prepared for.  [DW2] This dream had occurred regularly over the previous few months.  After a couple of seconds she realised it was just a nightmare and closed her eyes and went to sleep again.

 

Mei was awoken by the sound of dishes clinking and realised that she had slept in.  She spent some time thinking about travelling then got ready and had some breakfast, which her mother had prepared for her.  She felt a little bit lost as she had been studying for so long and was not used to having spare time; it was strange that she no longer had a stringent routine. 

 

Mei went outside to the hatake^[3]and bid her mother good morning.  "I just realised that it was your last exam yesterday" Mei's mother said, cheerfully.

"Yes it was" Mei said. 

"That's good, now you can start thinking seriously about marriage" Mei's mum said, gazing at Mei, looking intrigued as to how she was going to react.  Mei predicted her mother would say that.  That was that last thing that she wanted but she didn't want to upset her mother.  "Maybe.  Shall I help with the weeding?" Mei said in order to change the subject.  Mei helped her mum with the weeding.  She noticed how much the hataké  had changed since the last time she went there.  The fruits were looking ripe and juicy and ready to pick.  Everything seemed brighter and more colourful. [DW3] 

 

Mei and her mother picked the ripe fruits and placed them in a basket.  Mei chose the ones that looked the most delicious and took them into the house.  She placed them on the butsudan^[4] which was customary with the first harvest of any fruits or vegetables.  She lit some incense, tapped the bell, placed her hands together and closed her eyes, taking a few moments to pray.  She thanked the kami^[5] and remembered her ancestors who had departed from this life.  She took a deep breath and inhaled the smell of the incense.  The smell was so distinctive, and wherever or whenever she smelt this incense, it reminded her of the butsudan, her ancestors and kami.  The ritual of lighting incense and taking time to think of the ancestors was a very import of part of the daily routine for Mei and her family, and in fact, for most families who lived in the area.   

 

Mei spent the next few weeks helping her mother, meeting friends and doing the things that she hadn’t had time to do over the previous few months.  She was constantly occupied with thoughts of travelling.  Of course, she could start searching for a job like her friends had, but job prospects were limited, especially for women.  Most of her friends had mundane, menial jobs and she knew that wasn't for her.  The other option she had was to have an arranged marriage.  A few of her friends had already had arranged marriages but the thought of that made her shudder.[DW4]   The only thing that felt right was travelling.    [DW5] [DW6] 

 

Mei decided to look for a job.  If she was going to travel, she would need to save.  Mei attempted to find a job that used her English skills but after few unsuccessful interviews, she decided to apply for other types of jobs and managed to get a job at call centre of bank.  [DW7] Her job would entail answering queries and dealing with complaints.  After two weeks of training she started the job.  A week later she became really disheartened. The customers could be really rude when they had a problem with their account.  The phone never stopped ringing and by the end of the day she had a headache and was exhausted.  She studied so hard yet she ended up in a job dealing with unhappy clients and the same enquiries day in and day out.  This wasn't what she expected.  She found herself stressed and bored at the same time.  The only positive element about Mei enduring such a boring job was the thought of being able to travel at the end of it. The more she thought about it, the more curious, eager and interested she became.  [DW8] The mundane job she had served a purpose; to earn enough money to enable her to follow her dreams of travelling.  She saved every yen she could. 

 

Mei spent everyday at her job thinking about her travel plans to Europe, she visited libraries and went to travel companies to get some idea of how much she was required to save.  She spent a lot of time with her mother and learnt how to cook and take care of the house and herself in preparation for her travels. 

 

The same question kept entering Mei’s head.  How would she be able to tell her parents about her plans to go travelling around Europe, alone?   Her family were so traditional, following a strict combination of Shinto, Buddhist and Confucian precepts.  Mei’s mother and father had an arranged marriage, Mei’s mother got married when she was nineteen and had Mei, her first child at twenty.  Mei’s mother spent most of her time looking after the house, the hataké, cooking and talking to the neighbours.  They lived in Saitama, a city that mostly consisted of rice fields and rivers.  Nothing ever really happened there. 

 

Mei’s mother had already expressed many times now that she would like Mei to get married and settle down.  Mei was a twenty-one year old female, her parents, especially her father, would never accept her travelling alone.

 

She spoke to her friends to try and get some advice on how to deal with this situation but they also, coming from a similar background from Mei, agreed that it would be very difficult.  A lot of Mei’s friends admired her for having the courage to travel alone; none of her friends were interested in travelling with her.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

My first piece of writing, would love some comments on how to improve!
Thank you.