The parentals. And me. In Nagoya.

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December 25th 2008

Published: January 8th 2009

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AdriLo

Nagoya Castle

The parentals have arrived!

I got to the airport and waited for them with butterflies in my stomach. I guess I was a little nervous because it had been exactly 4 months since I had last seen them (a record for me) and I really was anticipating their arrival. We reunited, we hugged, we got on the train. Since I have a great sense of direction (not!) , I managed to get us lost on the way from the airport to my apartment. I ended up getting us on a Rapid Express train heading north instead of southwest. Oops, my bad. I am used to being lost and not knowing where the hell I am, but my mom looked super worried--which is completely understandable. I mean, imagine setting foot in a foreign country you've never visited, you can't speak a word of Japanese, you're lugging luggage, you're jetlagged, and it's nighttime. Welcome to Japan! Luckily, some really nice Japanese lady who spoke perfect English saw us staring at a map and stopped to help us out. Soon after, we were on our way to my 'city'.

On their first night out in Nagoya, I took them to a kaiten-sushi

Nagoya Castle

restaurant. This is one of those restaurants where plates of sushi are on a conveyor belt and you grab a dish as it passes by you. I enjoy sushi. My mom, on the other hand, wasn't so keen on the idea of eating (raw) seafood. She hesitantly attempted to eat shrimp tempura. It only took her, oh, about 15 minutes or so to eat it. My dad actually did try some; he even used chopsticks! Good job, deddy.

Christmas was just like any other ordinary day. This was our first year celebrating Christmas with no tamales or posole. Can you believe that--no tamales or posole?! Except we did eat Christmas cake. (Well, actually, I ate most of it.) The Japanese celebrate Christmas by eating KFC and Christmas cake. To them, it is more of a romantic day than a family day. Some couples will go out to dinner and spend time together. I don't get it, what happened to the true meaning of Christmas--Jesus?! But, I guess when you're in a country whose major religions are Shintoism and Buddhism, you can't really expect to celebrate a Christian holiday like you do in your home country.

Hope you all