In the picture above, Pecolin (my homestay mother) wore peko-chan t-shirt that was a present from me. And, actually I got the t-shirt from Fujiko-san.
Pecolin's birthday was getting closer, and I still didn't have any idea what to give her. I then mailed Fujiko-san for some advice - for she often has good one - and lucky for me that this time she also had. She told me to visit her house, and I went the first time I had the chance.
After some 'important' chat (such as the fact that Moomin are actually trolls (Fujiko-san just came back from a trip to scandinavian countries) and that even though most of them don't wear anything in everyday life, they wear pajama when they go to bed :-) ), we started to talk about the present. I can't tell the detail here for I had promised Fujiko-chan to keep it a secret, anyway, in the end she handed me the t-shirt and told me to give it to Pecolin.
"Are you sure you don't want to give it yourself?", I asked her.
"No. It's okay. I usually just give her birthday card. Anyway, you're her son, she'll be glad to receive it from you. And told you what, I will act as if I don't know about the t-shirt at all."
So it went as we planned.
Several days after her birthday, Pecolin was wearing the t-shirt to a small party and everybody was asking about the t-shirt.
"It was a birthday present from Awan", she replied proudly.
"Really? How could you get the t-shirt? I think it should be hard to find...", the next question was addressed to me, and I just smiled full of secret.
Fujiko-san came late to the party, and when she spotted me, she frantically waved and said "Long time no see!".
Great act.
And I think I need to find Fujiko-chan a great birthday present next year... :-)
(About Peko-chan: it is the mascot of Fujiya, a cake chain-store in Japan. When Pecolin was a kid, lots of people said that she looked a lot like Peko-chan, and that's where she got her nickname).
