The Great Question "~wo taberu?" Can you eat~?

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Interesting Facts about Narita airport: (>_<)
It's been a long flight.
In Japanese security, they check for your fingerprints.
Domestic flights have smaaaalllll waiting areas.
And the food is good.

And so flying into Chitose airport was tiring. Not to mention nervewracking. For many of us, it is our first time visiting Japan. Most of us can barely speak the language, let alone string together proper sentences.
Through the glass doors by the luggage carasol, our host families wait, noses pressed against the glass. We grab our luggage, thankfully, none have been lost. "Konbanwa, hajimemashite," is repeated throughout the hall. And so, we go of our seperate ways.

One of the first questions I am asked is "gohan o taberu?" or, "Can you eat rice?"
"Hai," I reply. This question is asked many times, especially at the supermarket. Various foods such as: sashimi, soy sauce, tofu, sushi, along with various types of seafood and fish were included in the list. My host family replies with "Sugoi!" everytime I answer "Hai," or, "~oishii desu." In fact, those are the two phrases I've used most in the day that I've been here.

Jet lag is killer. My host family knows this, and okaasan (mother) is quick to ask "daijoobu?" (are you alright?). I managed to stay up after the flight and sleep for about 5 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, this has caused me to fall asleep around 5 pm. I woke up at 10 pm to eat sukiyaki with my family. At least I'm not so awake that I won't be able to fall asleep again tonight. Hopefully.

Other various questions asked during the day focused mostly on geography... which I have not studied since junior high. >_> Oh well, at least I still know that Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. I was also able to name various wild animals which reside in the Calgary area, as well as the Rockies.

I hope that tomorrow, I will be able to understand the language a little better, although the mix of English and Japanese vocabular seems to be working fairly well. Now that Mioka-san and okaasan know that I know the word "hen," meaning "strange," we seem to say it a lot. "Hen desu ne." Perhaps I will be able to surprise them again tomorrow with new vocabulary. =D

Oyasumi Nasai.
Goodnight

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Comments

[anonymous]

Sukiyaki , Ummm Yummy!
A quick cultural knowledge for ya!, Sukiyaki is considered as a high priced meal for an averaged income family. We eat Sukiyaki when we have a special event or special guests. So, here you go. I am happy to hear that they are treating you great.

[Erieru]

Re. Sukiyaki, Ummm Yummy!
Oh! That's really interesting to know. Thank you for the insight. =]