Jolly Giant at the Mall

A whole week has gone by and I haven’t left the confines of our town. I’ve been so busy chasing dust rabbits (they have matured from bunnies) and whacking at weeds that I haven’t explored the new mall that has put our town on the maps of Japan. “Clair’s” is touted as the largest mall in Kyushu and has become quite an attraction. The factoid says it has 190 shops but I didn’t count. It is very big, modern, bright and spacious –quite unlike typical shopping centers here. If you tune out the music and announcements that blast out of every corner, you would think you were in North America. All kinds of namebrand shops, designer outlets and specialty boutiques line the mall. The shops don’t appear cluttered, as everything is artfully displayed, a sampling of what they sell in an inviting and appealing way. You don’t have stacks of food processors floor to ceiling screaming “we’ve got heaps of stuff”! Instead, you have a pretty little shelf with one or two appliances beckoning you to explore more. Shopping is an entirely different experience than it is in the States. I can spend hours in these shops and never spend a yen. Thank goodness because it is all pricey.

While I was waiting to meet up with some friends, I came to the horrifying realization that I was indeed back in Lilliput. For over 4 years in the US, I felt “normal” – I was an average healthy human being and I could buy size 10 jeans and wear a size medium (sometimes large), buy shoes that fit and not be the biggest thing on the sidewalk. Here I am a triple-large in clothing sizes, a deluxe queen size, a triple X and even those are too short in the leg. The best I can do is shop in the men’s department if I need something. I started slinking down on the mall bench trying to shrink in the midst of the pencil-legged women and generally delicate people that walked by. Farm folk are at least sturdy, even if they aren’t tall. After years of torment and discomfort, it occurred to me that I am a giant in Japan. There is just no way to disguise it or get around it. So I decided to face it: I can either be an ugly grumpy giant or a jolly giant. Maybe I can use my size to my advantage- intimidating salespeople to give me a discouns or frightening away obnoxious children – or maybe, maybe just get over feeling miserable because I don’t fit in. Let them stare; I am normal. It took me a while to realize that I am just fine the way I am. It was fitting that on the way home, the evening sun cast a very long shadow of me over the fields. Were the gods sending a message? Yes, I will be the jolly (white) giant of Jonan.