Red Diamonds

A Day in the Life of Scott McCarthy, part 1

It couldn't be denied that Scott McCarthy found Tokyo to be very confusing and very uncomfortable. To make a long story short and simple, he does not speak Japanese. He speaks French, but that's the only other language he knows. He could go to Europe and do reasonably well, but here is a completely different story.

Oh, and that's not all! He's been dumped into a completely different culture, different customs, different attitudes, it's a perfect storm of cultural shock that's leaving him curled up on his bed in his Tokyo apartment.

"Scott? Scott, are you there?" A woman's voice called out of his iPhone. "Scott, talk to me! Get up! NOW!"

"I'M HERE!" he shouted. "Jeez, mom!"

"Well, I'm sorry I inconvenienced you," Bridget McCarthy replied. "You know, you sound like you're having a little temper tantrum instead of actual culture shock."

"You'd probably change your tune if you actually saw me," he said. "I don't speak the language."

"Is it hard to learn Japanese?"

"Very," Scott replied. "I can't even read it. It just looks like a bunch of lines that were rearranged into something that looks like a symbol. Now I know how dyslexics feel."

"Don't compare yourself to dyslexics."

"Sorry."

"Do you have a translator over there?" Bridget asked.

"The club has assigned one, but he lives in Saitama," said Sean, "Twenty to thirty minutes away by bullet train."

"How about Jimmy's roommate?" she asked. Scott paused and thought. Jimmy had started at Southern Illinois University Carbondale to study journalism with a business minor, but mainly to play baseball. His roommate and teammate Ichigo Murakami, whom Scott had met before his move to Japan, was from Yokohama and spoke perfect English. Scott sighed and put his head back on his pillow.

"I hadn't thought of that," he said.

"Well, what was so hard about that?" she asked. "Now let's get your mind off the language. I want to hear about this team of yours. You were so disappointed it wasn't Manchester United, I thought they were amateur, but... it looks like they're popular!"

"Yeah, we—I mean, they—are super popular here," he answered. "Coach says we're going to be playing in front of crowds of about 60,000."

"Oh, wow!" Bridget whoo-ed. "And are they successful?"

"They—I mean, we—have already won the J. League twice, the Emperor's Cup 3 times, and an Asian Champions League."

"What's the Emperor's Cup, is it like—"

"It's like the Japanese version of the US Open Cup or the FA Cup."

"Oh! OOOOHHHHHH! Okay, and the Asian Champions League is just like the UEFA Champions League. Got it. Have you already played a game or are you in the preseason?"

"We played a Champions League game against some team called Changchun Yatai."

"Where are they from?"

"Manchuria—China."

"You've already been to China!? Lucky you! Who else are you playing?"

"A team from South Korea and a team from Indonesia."

"Who are they?"

"FC Seoul and Persipura Jayapura."