Japan in Thirty Days

My Japanese Fame and Family

19 Oct 2010 5 Comments

by windyswindt in Windy/ウィンデイー

I went downstairs to the kitchen this morning to find a feast of a breakfast that my host’s mother had prepared for me. Teriyaki salmon, rice, miso soup, crab and potato salad, sliced tomatoes, green salad with sesame dressing, rolled baked egg, pickled eggplant, Asian pears, seaweed and of course, green tea. It seems that green tea is served every time you are seated for more than a moment, and I love it!

Yori’s mother does not speak any English and I hardly understand any Japanese, yet she was thrilled to speak to me throughout breakfast and explain the plot and characters of her soap opera. I nodded and smiled, then Yori translated. We exchanged photos of our families. They were very happy to hear I was engaged last month and told me Joey looked like, “a fun guy”, Jenna is “very pretty” and my parents are “very cute.” I have already eaten a good deal of excellent food here, but I am most grateful for what was presented to me on the Kawasaki family’s kitchen table.

After breakfast Yori dropped me off to meet with my team at Ohana, a kitchen where we would prepare a traditional American lunch (ham, bacon and cheese sandwiches with avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, mustard and mayo) as well as learn to make a traditional Japanese lunch item, rice balls. I enjoyed being busy in the kitchen and having my rice-ball making skills critiqued by the experts.

Once we were on the bus Craig casually mentioned that we made it into the Shizuoka Times. I had to find a copy, and sure enough, there we were!

We packed up the meals we made and took them with us to the Nihondaira Zoo. I felt like a kid again, exploring the zoo and communicating with our young translators who have both spent time in the United States and one of which was familiar with Santa Rosa. The zoo was like most zoos in the states except you were aloud to get much closer to the animals, I actually questioned how safe it was but figured people mus use more common sense here.

After lunch we took a bus to Funakosi City for a traditional Tea Ceremony. We were the guests of honor and were treated as such. We learned to bow as the tea was served to us, to pick the cup up with our right hand and place it in our left, turn it clockwise three times, take 2 sips and then a final one to catch the loose tea that had settled at the bottom. We were served by two women in traditional kimono and the tea was made by a tea ceremony sensei who rarely serves, as he is an instructor.

Now it is time for sleep…at least 7 full hours this time! Fingers crossed!