Japanglish

It has been another rainy day today. I left the screen door on our balcony open just so I could hear the rain and thunder. Very peaceful. I have been told it is the start of the rainy season and that it came a little late this year. Also a little late are our household goods. TMO still tells us that there is "no record" of our goods. Now, I am not sure if this is as dire as I interpret it to be or if it is just a case of miscommunication. When I hear the phrase "no record" it means to me that we are not even on the radar, our goods do not exist in their eyes. However, the individuals in the TMO office are not native English speakers. So, I am hoping what they really mean is that there is no paperwork showing our goods are sitting in their warehouse... yet. I can't seem to get a clear answer, but here is to positive thinking.
Speaking of communication, it is quite different here than it was in England. In England, even if you didn't quite get the lingo, you could still function pretty flawlessly. The letters were the same and it was easier to get over the hurdles of misunderstanding. Here we fully realize the meaning of foreign.
We understand a few common phrases when we hear them. However, the Japanese speak very rapidly, so we have had to learn to recognize the first few syllables of said phrases. I am sure that when we respond we sound like someone just waking up from surgery, very slow and unsteady. The Japanese are the most polite and patient people I have ever encountered. They hang right in there and even encourage our efforts. When we exhaust our repertoire of Japanese approximately 2 seconds into the conversation, we move on to charades and English phrases. There are quite a lot of Japanese people that speak English fluently, but there are also a lot that have a limited vocabulary. Still their limited English vocabulary trumps our Japanese vocabulary any day. I am always impressed and a little ashamed of the fact I only speak one language fluently. I think we should all start learning another language when we are young, like they do in most other countries. So in Japanese, we currently operate at the level of a toddler. We can't read anything at all, do well when there is a picture involved, and require the encouragement and kindness of others to nurture our communication skills. It looks like there is room for growth.