Eventually Yasu came walking up to meet us. We saw that he brought umbrellas with him and got really excited since it was raining lightly. Side note: Umbrellas are really popular in Japan. Everyone has them, I mean everyone. When it starts raining the crowded streets turn into a sea of umbrellas in a multitude of colors. It is actually kind of amusing. Anyway, Erin and I didn’t have an umbrella before this so we were happy to get to use one.
Yasu’s neighborhood is pretty quiet and not busy, which I liked. We made our way to his house and the three of us chatted along the way. When we got close to Yasu’s house he said that they were all pretty small and I disagreed. They were all a very good size and his house was kind of cute and homey. I liked it. We went inside and were greeted by Yasu’s happy and excited mother. I then presented her with out gift and she was very happy that we brought her something and really liked it. Yasu also liked that there was some sweet tea in there. She was very, very nice and had lunch prepared for us when we got there. I introduced Erin and myself to the best of my abilities and she exclaimed that my Japanese was very good. We sat down to eat and she started passing out food. We had some soup, a salad, a hamburger steak with onions, carrots, asparagus and water. I said “Itadakimasu” and Yasu’s mom smiled and said again that my Japanese was good. We began eating and Erin and I quickly figured out how to cut things with Chopsticks. It was kind of difficult, but we managed to eat well enough. Yasu’s mom asked us several questions during the meal and Yasu translated everything that I didn't understand. I tried to speak as much Japanese as I could and, following the theme of earlier, every time I said something she would say my Japanese was good. It was kind of funny but I appreciated it.
The food was amazing, by the way. It was probably one of our best meals in Japan so far. I guess home made is always the best. Yasu’s mom asked if the food she made was similar what our mother made for us. I told her that it was kind of similar, but still different. She was pleased with the answer I guess. I think my favorite part of the meal was the salad. It was lettuce, lemon, some other vegetables and raw salmon with some kind of sauce or dressing on it. It was amazing; I could eat that salad all day. The salmon was sooo tasty. I told her that her food was amazingly good and thanked her profusely for the meal. She said she was happy to make it for us. I also thanked her for letting us visit and she told me she was very glad we came to visit and that we could visit any time we wanted to. I think we might go back and visit when we go to Tokyo again, she said we should and I might take her up on the offer.
After we ate we went and checked out Yasu’s room. It was much bigger than our room in the hostel and it was actually a pretty good-sized room. I would have no problems if my room were that size. We hung out and talked for a little bit and then we decided that we should go to the Ikea in Chiba and then to a mall that was nearby. We went to leave and I decided that we should get a picture of Yasu and his mom, and then with us an Yasu’s mom.
Erin has the picture of his mom and us because my camera is a little too complicated. The only bad thing was that we didn’t get to meet Yasu’s little brother because he was at school. I mentioned that we could come back when he gets out, but then we found out that when he gets out of school he goes to a cram school where he takes more classes and studies until 11pm, and then comes home. Imagine that. Studying all day, every day. I guess that is the pain of Japanese college entrance exams. We finally were ready to leave and Yasu’s mom decided that she wanted to give us a gift. She actually gave us a lot but explained that it was stuff they didn’t use so she was happy for us to have it. Basically it was a set of teacups, a set of Japanese trays and then chopsticks to go with them. It was a really nice and surprising gift, she seemed really happy that we were surprised and liked it. We thanked Yasu’s mom for everything and left, it was kind of sad to leave but we had plans.
Ikea was our next destination, so we walked back to the train station and were on our way. I took some pictures at the station because it was empty. Not something you often see in Japan.
Our train zooming into the station.
When we got there Yasu was really impressed by the Ikea since he had never seen it before. It, like every other Ikea, was pretty big.
The Ikea was set up like any Ikea except that it was a little bit different and had more of a Japanese flare to it. It was fun to see all of the furniture and stuff, Ikea is always fun. We also saw a sumo while we were in there, which was cool. He was huge and dressed in traditional clothing.
The mall was on the other side of the station and it was huge, just plain huge. There was a horseracing track across from it, too.
We wandered around the mall for a while, looking at stores. We also discovered that there was a Krispy Kreme in this mall. What we were surprised by, however, was the fact that just to get a donut there was a 45-minute wait in a long line, in the rain. Oh, and also, unlike Krispy Kreme in America, here they cost about 2 dollars a donut and 18 dollars a dozen. Crazy right? What is even crazier was that Yasu said it was the shortest line he had ever seen. Usually it is around 2-3 hours wait for a donut and the lines are even longer in Shibuya, where there is another Krispy Kreme. I was astounded.
There was an arcade in the mall that we checked out. I finally played tyko drum master and really enjoyed it. Erin bought an umbrella a little later, and then found me one hanging on a rail that someone had left. We then found ourselves some dinner.
Dinner was awesome, to say the least. I don’t know what they are called but we ate these Hiroshima style noodle pancake things (which I know know are called okonomiyaki). Talk about good, we need these in America. Mine had cheese, some meat and some other stuff I wasn’t sure of in it.
After dinner we headed back to the hostel, another fun day complete.
2 comments:
In that supposedly "empty" picture at the station I spotted 17 and a half ninjas (the half referencing to a minja). Start ducking for no apparent reason. A few of them looked pissed.
Anyway, that's real cool how you can carry on conversations in Japanese like that, man. Seems like you were well prepared and are adapting to the culture quite well. “Itadakimasu”. That's the thing be say before eating, right? What's it mean?
Thank you for the meal, mostly.
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