Saturday, June 13, 2009

Arrival

I've finally got my internet set up, I couldn't connect to the wireless at Yuki's house because no one remembered the passoword, so I just hooked up directly through the wall. Anyway, that's not interesting.

After we finally got back to her house (after an hour bus ride because the subway line had broken down), Yuki's mom made us a ton of food. I was a little wary because I'd never eaten fish with the bone still there with chopsticks before, but Yuki showed me how and I think I didn't do too badly. Yuki's parents and grandma kept going "aaaahhh!" and exclaimed a lot while I was eating because they were impressed that I could use chopsticks - thank you Clare, for teaching me in third grade.

Her parents don't speak much English, and her grandma none, so a lot of miming has been going on and Yuki's been doing a lot of interpreting. When I It's VERY muggy here, as it's the rainy season in Japan.

Let me explain some of the pictures. Japanese toilets, wow. They are way too high-tech for me and they make me nervous. You can press a button on that pad to squirt water at you and another one to blow air... um... no thanks? I'll try it, ONCE, but just to say I've done it.

I really like Yuki's house, it has a totally different feel from an American house. There's the entrance for leaving your shoes, slippers throughout the house so you're not walking in bare feet, there's a really pretty porch(?) area outside my room where you can see the neighborhood. I'm sleeping on a little futon with a Japanese pillow, which is also like Esther's pillow so I'm thinking it's a general Asian thing. They're harder and have these big pellets inside, but I was still able to sleep like a rock - courtesy of developing the ability to nap almost anywhere thanks to college.

Now, the "shower" they use here is something I wouldn't mind having in a house of my own some day. Very luxurious. You sit on the stool and shampoo, condition, and wash then rinse yourself off, then you relax in the tub. Yuki says Japanese people take do this everyday. Yesterday was my first bath in a very long time.

So the pictures are of: me at the Detroit airport, Yuki on her porch-thing, the "mudroom" of her house, the bath, where I'm sleeping, and one of her toilets. Any questions?

5 comments:

  1. hey sarah its kristy . My mom told me to read your blog , and im scared of the toilet. My dad wants to know if your carrying on the tradition of wearing the red socks around Japan ? yeah , hopefully you aren't.


    From the whole Family ~ We enjoyed reading your blog and please keep us updated cause were interested. Hope your having fun !

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  2. I'm sorry to say, I brought no red socks with me. However, red is a very lucky color in China so maybe I'll be able to buy some there. Thanks for commenting!

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  3. wow.....that was wierd

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  4. AH! tell yuki i said hello! and yes, asian pillows rock! haha im glad you were able to sleep with it =D miss you sarah-chan!

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  5. WOAH that toilet must have been a shock! I would be scared too with all those buttons. Looks like you had a good time with Yuki! Her house looks so cute, especially with all of those plants :D

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