The noise outside the door



I woke up in the darkness, frozen in fear. Someone was just outside the door and was obviously meddling with it. There was no mistake. With a door made of metal, even the smallest object hitting against it would send a reverberation loud enough to be heard in my tiny apartment.

 

I turned to face the door while still on my bed, not daring to move, and listened keenly.  I had been studying for my upcoming placement exam late into the night and had barely fallen asleep when I heard the noises coming from the door. Could it be someone who was drunk and got to the wrong door? 

 

I looked at the clock, and then relaxed. It was 5.20am. I was expecting him afterall! I jumped out of my bed and rushed to the door. 



A picture of my mail box that is affixed to the door.
I don't receive all my mails in this box. Only important stuff was dropped off here.
 Sometimes, the postman just left the mail in the letter box at the entrance
 to my mansion, if the mail is not deemed important.



I peered into the box affixed to my door meant for the postman to drop off important mail such as my bills. There it was, what I had been waiting excitedly for in the past week - my first Japanese newspaper! Yes, the person who woke me up from my sleep was none other than the Nikkei Shimbun newspaperman! He must have been trying very hard to fit the newspaper into the narrow slot on the exterior of the door!

 

Nikkei Shimbun, 15 Sep 2012 morning edition received at around 5.20am.

Nikkei Shimbun, 15 Sep 2012 evening edition, which I found in my mail box
when I returned from volunteer work in the evening.

Not too long ago, my neighbour told me about a mailer she had received in her letterbox regarding a newspaper company providing a one-week free trial reading of their papers. As I often threw flyers in my letterbox straight into the garbage bin, I missed out on that application for the free newspapers. Following that lesson, I had since made it a point to go through the stack of mailers in my letter box more carefully.

 

Last week, I saw in the mail Nikkei's mailer offering a one-week free trial reading of its newspaper. I sent out my application on Monday, received an acknowledgement from their Osaka office on Friday and got my first newspaper on Saturday.  With the summer vacation now gone and my Japanese deteriorating into a most lamentable state, the newspapers should come in helpful as I work hard to bring myself up to speed again with the language.

 

And if my sensei should ask me if I had followed her advice and started reading more Japanese texts in the summer vacation, I could at least let her know that I am attempting to read newspapers now.