moriyama

Today our host parents took us on a trip to Moriyama to visit their children and grand children with their mother. That’s right, we were in the company of four generations of the same family all at the same time. And it was only an 80 minute drive away, too! Luckily for me, our Otosan drove on the way there.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First let me inform you of the bane of Ashley’s and my existence. These stairs. We have to literally climb up them every day multiple times to get to our room, and both of us have almost fallen to our deaths on several occasions already and it’s only our second day here. If possible, I’d estimate that they are at an 84 degree angle. No exaggeration required.

At 8am this morning, Okasan called us down for breakfast. Happy to oblige, we trotted downstairs, sat at the table and….salad? Japanese breakfasts are completely different from American ones (as well as the ones Ashley and I have been enjoying). Goodbye pancakes and scrambled eggs, hello ham slices, corn soup and toast. It was still very nice to enjoy something wholesome in the early morning, so we ate it and moved on with our lives.

On our way to Oka-san and Oto-san’s son Masao-san’s house, we picked up their mother, Kumi-san. She is 94 years old and still kickin’.  In fact, everyone who’s old here acts like they’re ten years or more younger than they actually are and there are hardly any overweight people. It’s fascinating in the least. From the window in the backseat, we watched the mountains roll by and the clouds wisp between them. I realize more and more that I would really like to live in a place with mountains that can get so covered with mystique like here in Japan. There are so many different kinds of birds to be seen as well. Hawks, Herons, crows, and egrets to name a few. At the house, we talked a lot with Tomoko-san, Masao-san’s wife. She was very animated and friendly, putting things people said into simpler Japanese for us to understand easier. She even took us shopping after we ate the GIGANTIC lunch she made for everyone.

Ashley and I also got to play with the family rat-like, flat-faced dog of sorts, Mame, and play Wii Resort. It would seem that I can’t even throw a virtual Frisbee. What a shame.

It turned out that Masao-san was flying back from Germany today, and when he finally came home (after sleeping a little) there was a huge feast of most simply put, make your own sushi.

We visited from 10am until 7pm or so, and our Oka-san ended up driving us back since Oto-san indulged in osake during his meal. I was wrong earlier when I said that Japanese people’s driving was like Lisa in Ponyo. It’s just our Oka-san who drives like that. I have also learned that despite the Japanese people’s innovations in technology, the people as a whole do not really know how to operate any of it. Our host parents used a navigator in the car on the way back, and could not use it for the life of them. We turned around too many times to recall the exact count.

To top off a day filled with good company, animals, lots of delicious food and interesting conversation, on the way back, I saw my first proper sunset (hi no iri) in Japan.

Tomorrow will be our first day commuting from our homestay to class. Watashi-tachi wa, ganbarimasu!