Green Tea

Deirdre and Makoto Yamaguchi sat cross-legged on cushions, facing each other, at the square miniature dining table in their tatami room overlooking their traditional Japanese garden in Tokyo.   The scent of freshly lain straw mats underneath them blended with the rich aroma of green tea and soya bean deserts set out. A sense of expectation filled the air. The first cherry blossoms had bloomed in the garden this morning on the tree planted by Makoto’s grandfather after the war.  Soon it would be time for ohanami, where they would join the Japanese nation, enjoying picnics under the blossom laden trees in the warm sun and bright blue skies.

Deirdre held a marble green ceramic cup in her hands, gently rotating it before sipping. She offered Makoto one of the daintily cut bean treats. She felt proud of her acquired skill in presentation and service of Japanese Green tea. The middle-aged Japanese ladies at the tea ceremony class at the local community center had remarked that Deirdre’s skill was on par with the Japanese themselves.  If it hadn’t been for her pale skin, freckles and auburn hair, they said that she could have easily passed as a native. 

“I really don’t understand why you have to go for so long?” Makoto said

“I know it feels like a long time” she agreed “but it will fly by.”

“Couldn’t you do the course online?” he pleaded.

“This course is full-time, on campus Makoto” she explained patiently

“What will I do without you?” he said sadly, staring at her with his deep brown puppy dog eyes. Deirdre felt herself starting to weaken. Quickly she averted her eyes and studied ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ woodblock print that was hanging behind him. Silently she gave thanks for the Japanese aversion to looking others directly in the eye; whereby politeness dictated that one respectfully kept their gaze averted, less the other party interpret it as a hostile gesture.

“Please try to understand Makoto” she explained.  “I feel like I’m a work widow. I can’t practice nursing here as the language beats the hell out of me.”

“But I thought you were happy teaching English at the language school!”

“I am, I am, but I can’t stay at it forever. I’d really like to teach at University level and I have to have a Masters for that”

“Ano ne but what about the baby?”

“Sure, there will be plenty of time to have a baby when I come back!”

“Deirdre, you are not getting any younger”

“Jesus, Makoto, we’ve been trying for years and nothing’s happening. I can’t put my life on hold forever”

“So, you are leaving me?”

“Of course not, whatever gave you that idea?”

“Ano ne well you have been a little different this past while”

“In what way?”

“I don’t know for sure, but since you started going to that Irish Network group, you seem different”

“Well, I’m surprised that you even noticed, given that most of the time you are at the hospital doing surgery and, on your time, off, you are either on-call or doing research. Our whole marriage revolves around your job you know! “

“Ah so, but you knew it was going to be like this.”

“I know, I know but I’m just fed up of it”

“Are you going to the Foreign Wives club now?”

“No, I’m sick of them – bunch of whiners!”

“But you used to love it. I know what it is!”

“What?”

“That new man you met at Irish network, what’s his name – Bally Reery- you’re obsessed with him!”

“For God’s sake Makoto, grow up! Can’t you just accept things as they are and stop being so jealous? And his name’s not Bally Reery” she said sarcastically “It’s Barry O’ Leary. How many times do I have to teach you the r sound?”

“As so, I’m sorry Deirdre.”

“And anyway, you knew when we met that I’d have a mixture of friends, both male and female and not this ridiculous separate male/female divide that exists here in this ‘Great Land of the Rising Sun’.”

“But how am I going to live without you Deirdre”

“Well can’t you can have your meals in the hospital like you usually do and I’m sure your mother will gladly have you over when you are off” she suggested through gritted teeth. “Sure, you never know, she might even have you over to stay!”

Makoto looked stung. He was well aware of the uneasy relationship between his wife and his mother. He bit his tongue.   Mother had never approved of him bringing home a foreign wife. The fact that Deirdre was Irish helped but Mother had expected him to marry his childhood sweetheart Yumiko.

 “But Ireland” he declared “why can’t you study in London? It’s much more civilized”

Now it was Deirdre’s turn to feel stung.

“Ireland’s my home Makoto” she retorted. “Watch what you say now. After all Japan isn’t exactly paradise either”

Tempers flared like a bush fire. Criticisms of each other’s cultures were flung into the tense air between them. It was so easy to find fault with two countries that were so totally polarized. When the shouting match died down, with no winners on either side, Deirdre sniffed.

“I’m going home Makoto. I’m exhausted trying to fit in. This TEFL Master’s Degree will give me time to recuperate. Before you know it, I’ll be back”

The doorbell rang. Makoto’s Mother stepped into the hallway calling;

“Anybody home?” in her polite Japanese voice

Deirdre raised her hands in silent frustration. She must have heard the angry exchange from the other side of the paper-thin walls of this traditional Japanese neighborhood. Once again, she was there to get a first-hand account from her only son.

Deirdre flashed a dark look at Makoto, warning him not to discuss the situation with his mother. She stood up and politely greeted her mother-in-law before removing herself to the kitchen to prepare fresh green tea for her.

In the small dark walnut stained kitchen, she placed her hand upon her tummy. For a moment she thought she felt a flutter there. She had taken the test this morning and done the calculations. The much longed for pregnancy was happening. She could not share it with Makoto. The baby wasn’t his. The father was Barry O’ Leary, who was here teaching English for a year.