Days 46-51: Work and Play

Saturday (7/26) allowed me to sleep in until the scheduled Japanese confectionary making class, which was luckily just down the street from our house. I am usually not so good at these things, but the ones I made turned out not so ugly, surprisingly. The ingredients were simple and pre-prepared, just a sugar-ish-dough, red-bean paste (a common sweet ingredient) and dye.

The master pastry chef

For lunch, we went to a delicious soba restaurant, then in the afternoon, I asked if I could practice piano again at Okaasan's sister's. Evening-time, we made plans with Mariko and Kento to go to karaoke; once we got there – surprise – 4-year-old Haruto had joined as well. It was a real blast; Kento tended toward Jpop/Kpop, I tended toward R&B that was generally too high for me to sing (hence, I should perhaps not be given the mike at karaoke, ha!). The karaoke place also had complimentary soft drinks, including slushies, which you know I indulged in. Afterwards, we went to a sushi place and all in all ate a lot of sushi. (My phone died so I couldn't get a picture of all the plates, but it was a feat).

The next day (7/27) was another restful Sunday. Since Okaasan brought up the point that I should ideally be practicing my piano every day, we went to her sister's again, and I brought the remainder of the sweets I had made the day before as a thank you gift. I could palpably sense the progress in my playing from the day before. (So this is what an actual practice routine looks like… duly noted). When we got back to the house, I helped Okaasan set up a new email address, since she didn't really know how to access her email on her computer. And at the end of the night, we joined Kento, by request, at his favorite onsen, which was fun. In the car on the way there, I could see in the rear-view mirror Kento and Okaasan chatting and laughing in the front seat; the love they shared was so clear, and I felt both honored to be allowed to temporarily join this family and thankful for my own loving family back at home. At the onsen itself they had a bubble-bath-type pool, which had a bunch of little rubber ducks that Nick, Kento and I tossed around for fun. When we got home, I realized (only right before going to sleep) that I had lost my glasses… argh!

Monday (7/28), though, Okaasan had me try out her glasses and, surprisingly, our prescriptions were pretty much the same. So, she let me use her pair, and even insisted on giving it to me, as she had many others. Truly, my gratitude was increasing with every day. And, I heard the Lord reminding me, "Be anxious for nothing."

For lunch, a group of us decided to go to the restaurant that served the famous "odori ika" (dancing squid) – a squid that is killed and served immediately, so that when you pour soy sauce on it the legs still react to it. I didn't have it personally, but it was quite the experience to watch:

Monday afternoon there was a soba and mochi-making demonstration that I had signed up to attend, but after biking to the area where the shop was supposed to be, I just couldn't find it, and instead wandered home, on the way discovering a children's playground with large tire-sculptures. The next day was our IS, so there I had preparation to do anyway. Okaasan made takoyaki (octopus balls – a favorite snack here) with a new takoyaki grill she had just bought, and the results were delicious.

Tuesday (7/29) after classes were over, everyone gave their I.S. presentations (8 minutes each, with all the classrooms used at once). Host families and locals from the community came to watch and listen. I jokingly tried to convince my host mother that she didn't need to come, and my presentation would be boring, but she insisted, "It is my job!"I was unsure how mine would go – again, having had not too much of a chance to practice the shamisen – but it went better than expected. I spoke a bit about the history of the shamisen, demonstrated an excerpt of the traditional folk song "Soran Bushi" and then spoke a bit about the re-emergence of the shamisen as a popular instrument in contemporary Japanese music (e.g. the Yoshida Brothers).

After the presentations were all done, many of us went to get either gelato or crepes. It felt like a Friday, since the brunt of the IS work was now behind us.

Wednesday (7/30) a small group of us had signed up to visit a local care house, for people with mental and physical disabilities – and what a good opportunity it was to get to meet people, one of many that HIF provided for us over the course of the term. We first did a question and answer session, each of us asking questions that the people would ask (favorite anime / favorite food / favorite singer / etc.), then us asking them. Then, they sang a couple songs for us (very enthusiastically), then all together we danced the Ika Odori (the "squid dance" – which is the famous dance of the upcoming Port festival in Hakodate. We had previously learned this same dance with the elementary schoolers). And when the song was over, we did it once again!

Thursday (7/31) was a pretty ordinary day, by all record. In fact, I don't especially remember it – and after asking Okaasan and Nick, they also don't really remember it. Based on my pictures and receipts, I got lunch at the convenience store and ate by the dock again with friends, then had another leisurely bike ride home, stopping briefly by a cool-looking temple. In the evening Kento and his basketball teammate came to eat dinner during a break in their rigorous practice schedule. That weekend, the entire town was gearing up for the Port Festival, a huge celebration of Hakodate's main economic source.

Real Japanese pokemon! :)