Continuing from last time, I made my way up to the table... (please note, everything said here was in Japanese)
As I stated in the last post, Aichan was first. I walked up and greeted her - "konnichiwa!" - as I put the photobook on the table in front of her, which she cheerily said back, then she looked down to get the photobook in a position where she could sign it. I had already planned what I'd say to her so I went "um..." and she looked up with this sweet interested smile (eye contact with Aichan could kill a man, seriously ;______;) and said "yes?". Morning Musume did a play in June called Fashionable, and they had a blog where the members could post updates about rehearsals, what they were up to, etc...Aichan doesn't have a blog of her own, so I really cherished the opportunity to read her posts there. So...I said "Your posts on the Fashionable blog really lifted my spirits. That was a really happy thing for me." and kind of put my right hand to my chest, half-patting it a couple times as I said 'me'. She responded with a big "thank you!" and started to sign the cover of the photobook, but I went "Ah-! Sorry, um..." and she got kind of flustered (sorry Aichan ;__;)...I pointed out that I had specific places in the photobook marked for each member to sign, then turned it to the place I had marked for her (with a yellow post-it, I bought sticky notes in the members' colors to mark their places with~). She asked which page I wanted signed and I said "right, please", then she went ahead and signed it. Before handing the photobook back to me, she looked up at me and said "Your Japanese is great!" with a big thumbs up and a smile (;__________;). I responded with a quick "ah, th-thank you!", followed by a short pause and "Please do your best! I'll always support you!", which she responded to with another "thank you!" and a smile, then I was on to the next member.
Photo 17
Next was Niigaki Risa, sub-leader of the group. I greeted her with a "konnichiwa" as well, turned the photobook to the place I'd marked for her and asked her to sign the right page. As she started to sign, I asked her which DS game she played on the plane (she wrote on her blog what she brought with her for the plane ride...a DS was amongst the list :P). She didn't hear me clearly, so I leaned in and said more slowly, "D S ?"...to which she just said "mario!", and I said "ah, that's good" lol (should have said I like mario too, or something, but I hadn't really thought beyond the question beforehand -___-). After she finished signing I thanked her, asked her to do her best and was on to the next member.
Photo 18
And then came Kamei Eri. Honestly, I'm not a particularly huge fan of hers, so I didn't have anything planned to say. I greeted her with a quick hello and laid down the photobook...actually, by the time I got to her the nervousness had started to set in, and it took me a little while to get it open to the place I had marked for her...one of the staff members ended up reaching in and helping me :P After that mildly embarrassing fiasco, she pointed back and forth between the pages asking which I wanted signed...I asked for the right page, as with every member, then she went ahead and signed it. I thanked her, asked her to do her best, and on I moved.
Photo 19
After Eri was Michishige Sayumi. Sayu is my second favorite member, actually (as those who read the comments in my last note may have deducted :P)...but for some reason I didn't have anything special planned to say to her (honestly, all the serious planning and thought went into what I was going to say to Aichan lol). Said hello, laid down the photobook, right please...as she was signing I told her I listen to her radio show every week. She asked me how, and I told her through recordings, which she seemed pretty surprised by. After she finished signing I thanked her, asked her to do her best and started to move to the next member...then she flashed me a quick usachan peace haha, and I did a quick one back.
NOTE: For those who aren't aware, usachan peace is this little hand sign thing Sayumi always does...make a peace sign with each hand and put them on your head like bunny ears lol ('usagi' means rabbit, 'chan' is kind of a cutesy honorific you might use with kids or cute girls, for example...hence "usachan" - "usachan peace" basically translates to "bunbun peace" or something silly like that :P), and the name of her radio show is "Konya mo Usachan Peace" - "Usachan Peace Tonight Too", basically - which is why she did it ^^ (pic here: http://i.imgur.com/Ncy2o.jpg)
Photo 20
Tanaka Reina followed Sayumi...and honestly, I don't remember a single thing about what happened with her. Pretty sure it was just "hello", "right page", "thank you", "do your best" and then next member. Some people said afterwards that she seemed to be in a sour mood...which wouldn't surprise me, as she had been complaining on her blog that it was too hot in Paris and the inside of FNAC wasn't an exception :P
Photo 21
Next was Mitsui Aika, the youngest member of the group (she's 17). Before I actually stepped up and started talking to her, she leaned back and said "it's so hot!", and a staff member wiped off her forehead real quick...then she leaned forward and it was the same protocol as usual. I said hello, she said hello, right page please...then I thanked her, asked her to take care of herself and to do her best. She may not have even gotten why I said " please take care of yourself" (heat :P), but it's the thought that counts~
Photo 22
After Aika was JunJun, one of the Chinese members. She's the only member aside from Aichan that I had planned something special to say to (which is funny, since she's one of my least favorite members). There was a show Morning Musume went on where the host started asking the two Chinese members (which JunJun is, of course, one of) how to say things in Chinese...one of those was 'horse', which is apparently pronounced by opening your mouth as wide as possible and going "maaaaaa!" lol (honestly I think it may have been the two of them exaggerating for laughs, possibly). The host thought that was hilarious, and continued to ask them how to pronounce 'horse' throughout the show...then when JunJun went on his radio show at a later date he asked her how to pronounce it probably another 15 or 20 times throughout the hour length of the show. It's become kind of a running joke ever since hahaha
SO...I got to JunJun, said hello, right please...then as she started to sign, I said "Sorry, um...horse is?" (in Japanese - "uma wa?")...but she misheard me, and said back "good evening!" (in Japanese, "konbanwa"). It was an understandable mistake, there was a lot of background noise and the two phrases sound similar. Anyway, I leaned in and said again, more slowly "...horse is?". She gave me kind of a weird look and said "good evening...?" again haha, then I said it one more time, very slowly...and LinLin, the other Chinese member, who was sitting next to her, suddenly got the joke. So she kind of jumped a bit, looked at me and then JunJun and said "Ah! Horse is!" and they both went "maaaaaaa!" hahaha, and I thanked both of them real quick...not perfect, but it was still really really funny.
To be honest, JunJun seemed a little annoyed by the time it was done, but no harm in messing with her a bit~
Photo 23
And, finally, LinLin, the last member in line. I had basically gotten my interaction with her during JunJun's autograph, so I just said hello, right please, then thanked her and asked her to do her best...and thus ended the FNAC session for me.
Photo 24
Right after getting out of the session I went to find my friends in the crowd, ran into Paul (the guy I'd be staying with when I arrived back in London), Hexi and Lampshade. I held up my hand and said "look!" to Paul...it was visibly shaking a good 1/4 inch in either direction. To say I was nervous/hyped/etc would have been a HUGE understatement...and actually, I think things went pretty well :D
Thursday's events after the session in my next post...
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