Fumiko arrived on schedule on Tuesday, with a huge suitcase, huge duffel bag, smaller tote bag, and backpack. She splurged on a cab from JFK to 95th St. ($60). The apartment almost immediately exploded, with stuff lying in every room in disarray. She showed me presents (to her, from myriad friends and associates in Japan who will miss her), and dug out clothes, vitamins, toothbrush, etc. Her last days were apparently a whirlwind, so she just threw things in every which way.
Though she was tired, she wanted a celebratory dinner, so we went to our favorite restaurant, Saigon Grill, and had whole sea bass with crunchy skin, Bun Xao noodles, and wine. Ate it all and staggered home, stopping to do a little grocery shopping. At home, I soon discovered that I had lost my coin purse (again!). Never found it. About 15 bucks, I think, but it's always a little crazy-making, makes me feel I'm disintegrating.
She didn't sleep much Tuesday night, but finished her thriller novel. Wednesday morning, we began with computers. I wanted to use her old computer to get stuff off my old Zip and Jaz drives, which no longer work with any of my computers. So we started it up, solving each problem as it came up. We tried to get her Windows laptop to work with my old printer (which recently lost its Ethernet connection and is working off a kluge-y parallel-to-USB cable). She unpacked things, and sorted through stuff in a cabinet that she left here. I made a pile of broken electronics for a recycle event next Monday.
About noon Fumiko fell asleep on the couch while channel-surfing the television. I tiptoed around her, had lunch, went for a run, took a shower, dealt with email, had dinner, etc. She woke up about 5:30 and decided to go with me to a film showing downtown. They served snacks, and Fumiko accidentally splashed red wine on my favorite comfy tan slacks -- I lost the first hour of the movie stewing about this, but eventually recovered. At home, she called Tokyo to check in with her sister, who had had an important doctor's appointment that day, and she managed to cancel some very expensive medical insurance she had bought at Narita for a year abroad -- she was apparently not aware that there is free health care in Canada! That night she slept from 12 to 5 a.m.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment