Japan summer nights

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Wednesday 8/9/06


Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve updated, but I have been pretty busy and haven’t had much chance to write. Last Tuesday I moved in with a new host family, the Yamashitas, who are extremely kind and wonderful people. The family consists of a mother, Akemi-san, father, Masatoshi-san, and 18 yr. old daughter, Erika-chan. The own some kind of clothing manufacturing company not far from the office. Their home is smaller than the previous two, but still very comfortable, and they have a cat and a dog who are so cute!! My room is on the first floor, which is lucky because my suitcases seem to have grown to an alarming size since I’ve been here 😉 My room is very beautiful, with tatami mats on the floor and lots of carved wood and shell/gold furniture. The windows are covered in shoji screens and the closets are made of wood and canvas and have a mural painted on. The room holds the family’s Butsudan, which is the Buddhist shrine many Japanese people pray to every day. Akemi-san is a very good, loving, traditional wife and mother. She keeps a clean house, cooks incredible food every meal, and dotes on her husband and daughter. Masatoshi-san is a very easy-going, kind, funny man. He works hard and keeps pretty late hours at the shop, but he is always kind to me when I see him and tries to talk with me in English. Erika-chan is very sweet and incredibly smart. She attends Nagoya University of Foreign Studies and speaks English and Chinese. She loves vintage clothing (you should see some of the amazing pieces she has from France and England!) and American pop and R&B music. Erika is extremely sweet and very funny and outgoing. Right now she is on summer vacation so she’s been working a lot at her part time job as a waitress at an Izakaya. To get to work from their house I have to take a train and the bus. It’s not too bad and only takes about ½ an hour if the bus comes right away. However, today I had to wait 20 min. for the bus so that kind of sucked and it took me like and hour to get into work. I did borrow Adachi’s bicycle but the weather has been so unbearably hot lately that it’s worth it to pay the 200yen ($2) to ride the bus to the station in the air-conditioning. Also I’m not sure where to park my bike, since, last Wednesday when I tried to park it overnight, I found a warning ticket attached to the handlebars the next morning. Anyway, last week was pretty uneventful except for having a lot of work and being pretty tired a lot of the time. Wednesday night I had a lesson in Gifu as usual, so it was fun to see Charlene and I learned a lot this time in terms of the kind of grammar I’m going to need to know for the JLPT. Ahh, I really need to study!! * firmly resolves to quit slacking and study tonight* The weekend, as usual, was extremely busy. Friday was Mike’s birthday so Keiko and I went at lunch time to go buy him a cake and surprise him. It was really cool because we managed to get most of the office down on the third floor to sing him Happy Birthday. He was really surprised!! Then of course we shared the cake with everybody, which was no small feat considering we had only chopsticks, sporks and napkins to eat with! 😉 That evening I went with Akemi-san to Gifu station to meet her friend Keiko for an English lesson. We had dinner at this restaurant in the station that specializes in something classed “omu-rice” which is basically fried rice and vegetables enveloped in an omelet and topped with a tomato sauce. It is really delicious and my lucky friends and family will be able to eat it when I come home, because trust me I will be cooking this for you! After dinner we still had a bit of time before meeting Keiko, so we stopped in the bookstore where I bought the latest issue of Hana to Yume, thinking (again) that this would be the last chapter of fruits basket, but it wasn’t!!!! So this means either 1) volume 22 will be extended and feature 7 chapters instead of 6, or 2) we have 5 more chapters to look forward to!!! Ahh, I would be so uber happy if we could see what happens to everyone in the future! These past few chapters have been so good that now I don’t want the story to end! (ok, well I never wanted the story to end..hehe) I’m just glad Takaya-sensei (the author) didn’t kill off any of the main characters, since she has been known to in the past. Ok, ok, I know I’m diverting from the subject…Let’s see…yes, so, we met up with Keiko-san at mister donuts (Japanese version of Dunkin Donuts) where we had a very good lesson. Both women study very hard to learn English and actually know a fair amount, but speaking and translating is hard work for them (understandably). I think it’s amazing that they’re working to learn a new language given how busy they are! But for most people here, learning another language is a priority, and English is seen as the most essential. I wish Americans had the same mind set, but that’s another story altogether…:-P Anyway I just hope they were able to learn something from me, and I didn’t prove completely worthless as a teacher!! I learned quite a bit of Japanese from teaching them as well, so it really beneficial both ways I think. After the lesson, Keiko told us that her daughter and two friends were rehearsing dance outside the station and asked us if we wanted to come watch. I agreed, and we found the three girls hard at work at one of the drop-off areas. I was really surprised, these girls were GOOD!! Like really talented!! They did one of their pieces for us and I was completely taken aback. It was a hip-hop/funk piece done to some rap song I had never heard of and whose lyrics I’m sure they didn’t understand 😉 These girls seriously could have been back-up dancers in any music video you see on TV. They were awesome, and really in shape! You should have seen Erika’s (Keiko’s daughter is also named Erika) muscles. You could tell they had been doing this for a long time. They were so cute too!! We stayed and talked with them for a few minutes before heading back to the car. Akemi-chan and I then headed over to a restaurant near their house to meet up with Masatoshi-san. It ended up being this really cute sushi restaurant owned by a friend of theirs. The owner, Hiroe-san, was so funny and would get excited every time I would say something in Japanese! His wife and son also worked with him and they were very nice too. Hiroe-san had a daughter who used to live/study in New Mexico so he thought it was really cool to meet another American. Yeah, well it’s Gifu, not Tokyo, us foreigners are a rare breed around here 😉 It was also really cool to see him prepare the sushi! It truly is an art form, and I wish I liked the stuff, but unfortunately no matter how many times I eat it, I still don’t like it : ( (kind of like Octopus, I have tried and tried, but it still just makes me sick to eat it) Before I left they loaded me down with lots of souvenirs from the restaurant, like a menu, matches, a fan, etc. so I would remember them. So cute, huh?? How could anyone not love this country?? Anyway the next day was Saturday and I was happy because I finally got to sleep in. I woke up late and took it easy that afternoon. Erika and I hung out for a bit and watched a Christina Aguilera concert video. It was also decided sometime that weekend that Erika would come and stay with me in Boston for a month!! I am so excited!!! We have decided that the month of February she will come and go to language school while she’s staying with me. I can’t wait, it’s going to be so awesome. (And don’t worry mom, her mother is sending her with money for food and travel expenses 😉 Anyway at around 4:30 I went to meet Charlene and the gang at Gifu Station for the fireworks festival. Takanori couldn’t come so it was all gaijin there, except for Shinya. Our group was actually huge. It was me, Charlene, Shinya, Julie, Takeshi, Laura, Aneas, Sarah, Shawna, and this guy Ray who I had never met before. We decided to just walk to the fireworks festival, which turned out to be the better option because most of the streets were closed off and traffic was at a standstill. It was a really long walk though, it took like an hour to get there, but there were also a lot of people and everyone from our group had to keep stopping either to buy alcohol or go to the bathroom. When we did finally get there we claimed a spot on the bridge and immediately hit the food stands. Ahh I love festival food! All of us raced to the steak on a stick stand, and even though they were $5 a pop, it was the best damn steak on a stick I have ever eaten in my life!! There was also chocolate covered pineapple, roasted corn, snowcones, yakisoba, and tons of other really good stuff, so all of us bought different things and shared with everyone. It was a great little picnic waiting for the fireworks. It was also really cool to see EVERYONE dressed in summer kimono, men, women and children were all running around in traditional Japanese clothing and sandals (geta). I wanted to take pictures but I was afraid of annoying/scaring people 😉 There were loads of couples there too. Everywhere you looked you saw them holding hands and sitting on blankets together. I think the fireworks festival is a really big date event because it’s also widely depicted in anime/manga…I guess I can understand…summer, fireworks, a chance to dress up…ahhh it was really cute to see all the young couples walking around in their summer kimono. Anyway, the fireworks finally started when it got dark, and man was it worth fighting the crowd! First of all, Japanese fireworks are NOTHING like American fireworks. A fireworks display here goes on for a full hour and 45 min. and range from the traditional to the really exquisite. Some of them were in the shape of palm tress, hearts, stars, and smiley faces, while others were indescribable in beauty and color. It was absolutely breathtaking, and even the sounds each one made were different! About 20 min into the display everyone started to get worried, because Charlene had gone to the bathroom about 10 min prior to the start of the show and she still hadn’t returned. Shinya and I decided to look for her after many futile attempts at reaching her on her cell. After about 20 min of looking she finally called us back and said she was ok, but that the line for the restroom was so long, she was forced to go halfway back to the station to a convenience store to find a bathroom. Yeah, it was really crowded, I think there may have been something like 500,000 people there. So, with everyone safely back, we all enjoyed the festival together. After the festival we decided to go to Karaoke in Nagoya, and Julie and Takeshi offered to let me stay at their place because it would be a really late night, so nice!!! On the way back our group got split up, so it was me, Charlene, Shinya, Shawna, and Ray. When we passed by a convenience store everyone decided they had to use the bathroom (along with 100 other people from the festival) so Julie’s group had to wait at the station for us for an additional 45 min or something, so I felt really bad. But it was ok ; ) Anyway, Charlene, Shinya, Shawna and Ray opted not to go to Karaoke, so it was just me, Aneas, Laura, Takeshi, Julie and Sarah. Getting to Karaoke was quite the challenge though, since the trains were PACKED with people coming from the festival. When we finally got to Nagoya station we were all tired from walking and standing so long, so we went to this little alcove in the station and put our feet in the fountain there. The alcove was really cute and tucked away, but it was lit up in blue and white lights and there was a long fountain with statues of Poseidon, Venus and a bunch of dolphins inside it. It was kinda cheesy but also really cute and romantic. There were a lot of couples sitting together there, which was really sweet. After cooling off in the fountain we headed to karaoke, where, for $10 you get a room for 2 hours plus all you can drink of alcohol and soft drinks. I, as usual, opted for the soft drinks, since I had plans with my host family the next morning. It was really fun though, and I found out that Julie has an AMAZING voice!!! I was seriously in awe listening to her. She has the most beautiful singing voice I’ve ever heard. She could go pro no problem if she wanted. Wow, I think the whole room was just captivated whenever she sang. Isn’t it cool when you find out hidden talents in people?? Hehe 😉 Anyway, everyone had a lot of fun, especially Aneas, who kept hitting on me and Laura and trying to get me to kiss him…don’t worry I didn’t!! Well, I did give him a kiss on the cheek earlier on the train because he thought his new haircut looked ugly and said no girls would like him. When I told him that wasn’t true and that it looked nice, he said “really, would you kiss me with a haircut like this?” so I said “of course!” and kissed him on the cheek 😉 He was really surprised and so the rest of the night he kept trying to get me to kiss him again…boys…I swear…but don’t worry folks, it’s cool, I actually think he and Laura are going to pair up soon because they seem to like each other and everyone wants them to get together. I hope so because they would be a really cute couple!!! Anyway, the 2 hours went by really fast, but by the end we were ready to go because I didn’t think any of us had a voice left from singing and laughing so hard! We all decided we were hungry then, so we went to McDonald’s and grabbed some food before going home. Laura and Aneas split off from us then, and Julie, Takeshi, Sarah and I all went back to Julie and Takeshi’s place in Freebell to eat and talk. I actually ended up finding out a lot about Takeshi. Apparently, he is half Japanese and half Peruvian. His father and his family moved to Peru after the war, where Takeshi’s father met his mother. Then, when Takeshi was a teenager, they moved back to Japan. Takeshi is extremely bright and can speak Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese and English fluently. He really wants to go into translation work one day, and I’m sure he will have no trouble. He also claims to be psychic, and, say what you will, I believe him. He told me things about myself that no one else could possibly know, it was really eerie! He had me, Sarah and Julie all freaked out with true ghost stories (again, be skeptic if you will, but it was hard not believe what he said) and tales of what life was like in Peru. He confirmed what I have heard from a lot of people, that outside the tourist areas, South America is not a safe place to be. His own cousin was kidnapped for ransom money and then shot and killed. He said that anyone with any wealth has to hide it because if people know you are wealthy they will kidnap, threaten, kill you, to get your money, clothes, jewelry, etc. He said that there is a lot of terrorist activity there and you take your life into your hands if you go out after dark. He said even the police are corrupt, so it’s no use turning to them for help. So, any thoughts I had of traveling to South America are now gone, I think I prefer Japan, thank you! The four of us stayed up talking until like 4 am, by which time Julie and I were scared enough out of our wits, that we all decided to sleep in the living room together. 😉 Sunday, came all too soon and I stumbled back to the station at 10, still half asleep and wondering how much activity I was going to be expected to do. I needn’t have worried because it turns out that I was facing a 2 hour train ride home, which should have taken me 20 min. Yes, 2 hours because I took the wrong train line and ended up way out of the way of where I wanted to go. It took me three different trains to get back from where I had ended up, and trust me, I have learned my lesson—always check with someone about your destination BEFORE getting on the train, especially when the maps and signs are all written in KANJI (Chinese characters)!!!! Ah well, so when I finally got home at 12:30 Erika and her boyfriend Yuta, were at the house waiting for me. Yuta is a really nice kid and also very smart. He went to the same high school as Kaki chan, and goes to Tokyo University’s campus in this region. He also teaches English and Math 3x a week at a juku in Nagoya. Because it was exceedingly hot that day, as it has been almost every day for the past 2 ½ weeks, we decided an indoor activity would be preferable. Therefore, we decided to go to the mall! This mall was really big, and had lots of different shops. The best store was one that features anime goods from all of Hayao Miyazaki’s films. If I had the money I would have bought out the whole store, but since my finances are rather on the low side, and the goods were rather expensive, I decided window shopping was about all that I would be doing there 😉 I did find a store that sold good souvenirs at pretty reasonable prices, so I bought some cute things for all my loved ones back home 😉 That’s right, don’t worry, Jenn is bringing home pressies for you all!! When we were pretty much done shopping, Akemi-san took us to Baskin Robbins and bought us all triple scoop ice-creams!! They had some really cool flavors too! I brought home a menu to show everyone cuz I can’t remember what all the flavors were. After a long day of shopping, we went home and relaxed for a couple hours before meeting Masatoshi-san for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. I was so tired I fell asleep on the floor when we were all watching TV. I can’t believe it…I must have been really sleep deprived to be able to sleep on the floor!! Anyway, at around 8 we went to meet for dinner. Apparently they knew the owners of the restaurant too, because they chatted like old friends and said hi to their children. The dinner was amazing, and when I say amazing, I mean AMAZING!! This food was better than a lot of what I had in Italy, and I joked with the owner that he should go on the Iron Chef…I mean it, he was that good! I would go into what we had but right now it’s near lunch time and I’m already hungry…but trust me it was all out of this world. After dinner Akemi and Masatoshi chatted with the owner and his wife, while me, Yuta and Erika played with the owner’s 2 children, Ken-kun and Maya-chan. I was the star of the evening when I showed everyone how to make really big bubbles on a bubble wand 😉 (Thanks for teaching me that trick dad) Everyone was amazed and so I spent the evening making and chasing bubbles with the kids (“kids” includes Erika and Yuta) hahaha 😉 Ken kun is 8 years old and a veritable bundle of energy. He was really shy at first, but when he decided I wasn’t scary, despite being a foreigner, he opened up and didn’t stop talking and jumping around asking me questions the rest of the night. It was good practice because I had to work hard to decipher what he was saying to me! His older sister, Maya-chan is 12 and looks about 9. (Ken kun looks about 5 or 6) She is much more quiet but very sweet and laughs and smiles a lot. She and her younger brother get along very well and Ken seems to like performing for his older sister, because she laughs at everything he does. It was really very cute. Maya chan is in 7th grade and already speaks English very well!! I was totally taken aback when I asked her how old she was, and she answered in perfect English, “I am 12 years old”. It was so cute!!! Their mother also speaks English fabulously and really enjoys learning it. At the end of the evening the owner’s wife (I didn’t catch his or her name) showed me her hobby: breeding butterflies!!! It was so cool!! Essentially she has a tank she keeps different caterpillars in and she feeds them etc. After a little while, they form cocoons in the tank and when they become butterflies, she releases them!! I wish I could see it when they break out of their cocoons, that would be so cool. But it was really neat to see the caterpillars and the cocoons that some of them had already made. By the time we got home that night, it was already 11:30 and I was exhausted so, after saying good-bye to Yuta-kun I hit the sack. Unfortunately, the next morning I could barely open my eyes, I was so tired. I think I overdid it, because at lunch on Monday I slept the whole hour at my desk and scarfed down some food in the last 10 min of the break. I was still exhausted when I got back and slept again until dinner and then went to be early right after eating. I’m pretty sure it was sheer exhaustion from not sleeping very much and then running around all day. Yesterday when I woke up I knew I had overdone it because I literally couldn’t get out of bed. I had no energy whatsoever and no appetite either. I hated to have to do it, but I called in sick because I knew there was no way I was going to make it through the day, let alone the rest of the week, if I didn’t get some rest. I slept the ENTIRE day. I’m not kidding. I woke up just a little before dinner and did some reading and chatted with everyone. I’m afraid I worried them because I was out for so long, but I think I had just built up a massive sleep debt. Anyway after that long sleep and some healthy dinner I felt back to my old self again and spent a very pleasant evening with everyone. We watched this TV program that Akemi loves. Its this guy who claims he can talk to the departed and goes to people’s homes and gives messages to them from their dead loved ones. I don’t know whether I believe it or not, but you can see how happy it makes these people to feel that they’re talking to their beloved dead, so whether he’s a phony or not it seems to give these people peace of mind and relieve them of a lot of sorrow, so if he is a fraud I hope those people never find out. Akemi idolizes the man, and even has a picture of him on her phone. I don’t really get it, but the people he helps have really tragic stories a lot of the time, in terms of how they lost their loved ones, so it made me feel really grateful to have my friends and family with me, and should be a lesson to me not to take anyone for granted. We also watched home videos of Erika when she was a baby and that was really cute. You can tell that both her parents love her to pieces and are so proud of her. It’s so sweet!! Then, last night before I went to bed Akemi-san surprised me with a bunch of presents! She gave me a picture frame with a picture of all of us taken at the restaurant and a little photo album with pictures taken at various points during my stay. She also bought me some cute stickers and pretty cell phone straps for me and my family! How nice was that?? I really am going to miss staying with them!! Ahh well, that’s all I can think of to write for now. I’ll keep you posted!

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Photos

view from the bridge of everyone at the fireworks festival
this doesnt include the other 250,000 that were on the street/bridge area with us

everyone
doesn't char look happy ;-P

Laura, Aneas, Takeshi and Julie
cute couples ;)

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[Jody]

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WOW!