Complete and Creative

My “My Sassy Girl” Moment (2/2)

…continued from

Fans of “My Sassy Girl” will definitely enjoy this more, but it’s still an amusing story for those who haven’t seen the movie.

This is what happened:

Photo from http://www.sinemablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/my-sassy-girl-6.jpg

Some friends and I were on a train to Tokyo. We were studying in a countryside town called Tsuru, which is about two and a half hours west of Tokyo by train, but we needed some electronic supplies that we knew we could only find in Akihabara, Tokyo’s Electric Town.

So I was standing on the train, holding onto one of the overhead bars to steady myself. As usual, there weren’t any seats available, but the train wasn’t crowded. Not by Japanese standards anyway.

My friends and I were just chatting, minding our own business, when this girl in a schoolgirl uniform just rammed into me out of nowhere. I wasn’t sure if she used her head or her shoulder. She was the one who did the ramming, but I managed to keep standing while she fell on her butt, her long hair strewn over her face (does anyone remember this last detail from the movie?).

She looked too young to have been drinking (then again…convenience stores in Japan don’t check ID). Plus, it was way too early in the day (then again…convenience stores in Japan don’t check ID).

My personal conjecture was that she was simply sleep-deprived, a common problem amongst high school students all over Asia.

In any case, I knelt down to help her up (by the elbow) and asked her if she was okay (in Japanese). I had just begun my studies in Japan, but I’m pretty sure I was able to pull off such a simple question even then.

But she didn’t answer, looking all over again as if she were drunk. However, I couldn’t really see her face, so who knows? She stood there, having grabbed hold of another overhead bar, in her knee-high socks and wobbly feet while I did my best to keep a straight face.

To save awkwardness for all parties, her stop came shortly afterwards, and she stepped out of the train without a word or a glance at me. I shrugged and just chuckled with my friends.

I have since had a few more interesting encounters on trains, in both Japan and Korea, but this one still certainly stands out.