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October 21st 2007

Published: October 21st 2007

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Farbs

Mom, Dad and I at Okonomiyaki in Shizuoka

We survived! (sigh of relief!!!)

Mixing the travel styles of a 25 year old, poor backpacker and two 50 year old first class travelers (who might I add definitely deserve to travel first class after all of their hard work in life 😊, is a bit of a challenge but I must say that overall I think we did a really good job. Besides the small finger marks on my neck that still burn a bit to the touch, hahah, my mom, dad and I managed to traipse through the trains, buses and subways of Tokyo, Shizuoka and Kyoto relatively unscathed. And although the trip was a far cry from the luxurious vacation that my hard working parents deserve, all in all I think it went pretty well.

I won't get into the nitty gritty of everything we saw and did---we did A LOT---in fact, in the 10 days that may parents were in Japan they saw almost everything I have seen in Japan in 10 months. They are quite the seasoned Japan travellers now and I give em LOADS of credit for being so positive and energetic despite their crazy tour guide, the language barrier etc etc etc.

Tea Ceremony in Tokyo

I have to say that for me, the best part of having them here was not at all the site-seeing, but the opportunity to experience together all the crazy quirks of the culture I have been living in for the past 10 months. We got to talk about and experience everything from Shinkansen bullet train rides, to silent subway rides in Tokyo accompanied by many uniformily dressed business men, the overwhelming presence of cell-phones in daily life, okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes), Yaku Niku (Korean BBQ), omrice (rice omelets--very popular in Japan), Tskiji market sushi, lots of nooodles, tsukimono (small pickeled dishes that accompany many meals), caffenaited tea served with every meal that keeps you awake all night, MATCHA (green tea) ice cream, SMALL and SMALLER hotel rooms, the craziness that is my roommate Dawn and her fiancee Ben--(my family here in Japan), countless temples and shrines, the feeling of being constantly lost in translation, the reversion to Spanish when trying to converse with the Japanese (I can't count the number of times my parents said GRACIAS when they meant to say ARIGATO), the confused looks we'd get when people discovered that my mom and I despite our Japanese appearance in

At the Nijubashi Bridge in Tokyo

On the grounds of the Imperial Palace

fact don't speak Japanese at all, the stares and curiousity that my tall, white, western dad got, the English surveys Japanese school children conducted on us in order to practice their English, the EXTREME politeness of everyone, the fashion, the language, the japanese pronounciation of English words (katakana), my dad became pro at asking if places took credit cardOs not credit cards (everything ends in a vowel in Japan), the concrete jungles of japanese cities etc etc etc!!!!!

I am a bit ashamed to say this but the truth is that just before my parent's visit I had started to become so comfortable in Japan that I was beginning to just go through the motions and take for granted what an interesting place I have been living in. Having two sets of tourist eyes really helped to refresh my own perspective on things in here. Mom and Dad, your visit could not have come at a more perfect time and I am so thankful that you guys took the time out of your busy lives to come experience this country with me! It means the world to me---I could not ask for better parents!!!!!

Enjoy the pictures 😊