green tea onsen

when I came back from Thailand, I  brought "omiyage" for my coworkers because that's the japanese way. the Thai omiyage I presented were little keychains with wooden Thai people dolls. the head English teacher, ms. tanaka, sits next to me in the teacher's office and keeps her little Thai person on her desk, atop her computer tower. just behind the Thai person she keeps a  little desktop calendar. now the scene is set.

today, while placing my laptop on my desk, I nudged the corner of ms. tanaka's little calendar, causing it to fall over. it nudged the little Thai person, causing it to fall over, off the edge of the computer tower, for a perfect dismount and a 10.0 landing... in ms. tanaka's cup of green tea. perfect.

i proceeded to gasp loudly and jump to my feet, causing my coworkers to call out in unison "daijobu?" (are you okay?). as i fumbled frantically, i reached into the tea cup, pulled out the doll, held it up, and, while motioning toward the Thai person with an awkward grin, said "swimming." 

they laughed.

phew.

i took the doll and ms. tanaka's tea cup to the sink, rinsed off both and returned them to her desk.

ms. tanaka was not at her desk when this occurred so when i saw her later that day, i told her "i gave your Thai person a green tea bath today. it was like an onsen."

she laughed, as well.

yokatta. saved by a desperate attempt at humor.