The kindness of strangers.... who become fast friends

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The past 4 months have been jam packed with new experiences and endless adventures, mixed in with some frustration that comes along with being in a new coountry where I don´t speak the language or understand a lot of the cultural traditions. There are many days that continue to amaze me, some that frustrate me to no end and then there are days that remind me exactly why I decided to to take a vacation from my life and comfort zone in Canada and travel half way around the world to a country I didn´t know a soul in 4 months ago.... Yesterday was one of those days.


After work yesterday I was invited to a bbq at the home of one of my students. Little Miyu and Momoko are in my ´Mini Kids´class on Saturday mornings and I have become fast friends with their moms. Despite the fact that neither of the moms speak much English and my Japanese is very limited ie, non-existent, we still manage to communicate, even in those instances when neither party understands we just smile, knod and generally enjoy each others company.

So yesterday after work Momoko´s family picked me up and drove me to the bbq at Miyu´s house. Their car deserves some mention because it was the first time that I´d been in a family car in Japan and it was pretty high tech, the doors open and closed with the touch of a button. I´m pretty sure the Global Positioning System on the dashboard pinpointed our exact location on planet earth and there was even a fair sized tv in the back, complete with dvd player, as Momoko´s dad point out in case I wanted to watch anything on the 10 minute drive.

Once we arrived at Miyu´s we were greet by Miyu, her baby brother (he´s one, Miyu and Momoko are 2),her Mom, Risa, grandparents and her uncle and aunt. For the next 3 hours I was fed an endless amount of Japanese BBQ which consisted of thin slices of beef and vegetables like peppers, eggplant and mushrooms. It was DELICIOUS!!! And as I´ve learned is Japanese tradition there was an endless supply of beer to was it down with! The families want to know what bbqs in Canada were so I told them about our general love of hotdogs, burgers, steaks and kabobs on the bbq. Fascinated by the idea of a kabob, they asked many questions. Suddenly Miyu´s grandparents disappeared in the family minivan...only to return 10 minutes later with all the ingredients I had just mentioned in my kaboob explanation. ´´ Please teach us to make kabob´they asked, so despite the fact that the table was already cover with food we made more...delicious shrimp, beef and chicken kabobs, they were a hit!!!

As the night was winding down, after we´d taken a bunch of pictures and I´d sang every English kids song I could think of with the kids and I was preparing to leave to catch my train Miyu´s grandpa annouced that I must wait for the fireworks. Wow, I thought, this bbq keeps getting better and better! Grandpa took off on his bike and 20 minutes later he was back with enough sparklers to out do Canada Day at Conlon Farm in Perth. Miyu and Momoko had a blast watching the sparklers dance in the night sky. And grandpa even set off a few mini fireworks for special effect!

Sadly the night had to come to an end but not before we made plans for our next get together. I was genuinely touch by the seemingly endless kindness and friendship these families showed to me. They have given me many wonderful memories I will carry with me long after my adventure in Japan ends.

Today Marita and I are off the a celebration of India and Indian culture at the Foreigners club in Kobe, hopefully we will enjoy some good music and food and meet some interesting people.

P.S. This week also marked my official graduation from Carleton. And while I couldn´t be there in person I was celebrating in spirit with my good friends Ang and Kathleen who also graduated from the Mass Comm program and Megan who received her MJ. Congratulations ladies!!! I look forward to celebrating with you in person soon.

I´ll write again soon.
love, Melissa

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Comments

[Amanda]

I'm glad to hear Japan has been introduced to the kabob! Way to go! It sounds as if you continue to be reminded why you are there but I miss you tons here. Luv ya, Amanda

[Your Friend Kelly]

:)
Fennell you just have such a way with words! What an adventure! I always enjoy reading about your adventures. Man, those Japanese kids are SO CUTE!!! Miss ya Fen!

[Cathy]

"Kaboobs"?
Your BBQ sounded like a hoot. I hope you told your new friends that kabobs actually originated in Greece -- so you were bringing a European custom to the Far East!! P.S. Are "kaboobs", as you had written in your blog, similar to kabobs?