Japanese Family

// Warning: Feelings >> Funny. Too soon for a serious post?

I'm a strong believer in meeting new people. And, while I know that sounds somewhat cliche or trite, just listen for a second.

Each person and experience in the ocean of your life is a drop of water, or a bucket, or a torrential downpour, what have you. What I mean to say is that each thing has its own effect, casts its own ripples around your world. Ultimately though, with each new person and experience, there is more water. There is more life. You have lived more. And, true to American roots of excess, I believe more is better, at least in this case. More experiences, more people, more memories, everything: the whole shebang, kit and kaboodle, bouquet, yada yada yada.

And so, with many waves and eddies, white crests and swirling depths, two more people have entered my life.

Enter Stage Right: Mama Shimoie and Older sis Makiko （下家お母さんと真紀子姉ちゃん）

Now it might be a bit presumptuous of me to announce these two as my Japanese Family, considering that it's only been a week, and I met them because they work for the Tufts Program, rather than just meeting them myself, but I got that feeling, ya know? Something in the pit of my stomach is saying, "Hey, remember their names. Remember their faces. You'll be keeping them with you for a while."

And so, with that bit of background, here begins the post where I, along with the other members of the Tufts crew (Veronica, Matt, Shane), got spoiled like nothing else and enjoyed a day of sightseeing and food with the venerable Makiko as our guide and friend.

Light comes streaming through the window, catching the shades and throwing shadows on the floor. A motionless figure lays on the bed, the blanket a sea of folds and creases, clear signs it has been a night of tossing and turning. 11 AM

I got up, did the usual morning routine, all a bit more sluggishly though thanks to a hangover, and went out the door to meet with Shimoie and the Tufts people. A new woman who I hadn't met before, Makiko, was also there. She flashed a big and toothy grin and said, "Let's go."

And awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww yeah. Yeahhhhhhhhhh buddy. Fackin' delicious. The must sumptuous food your mortal eyes could lay upon. I actually think an angel came down from the heavens above just to deliver our lunch. Or, ya know, it was because the place was shwanky as fuck and cost an arm and a leg. Did I mention we were spoiled?

Lunch consisted of tender steak, mushroom soup, bread/rice, antipasto, stewed vegetables, and to top it all off, a delicate plate of assorted chocolates. All the while we were chatting in Japanese. My current command of the language allowed me to catch snippets of conversation yet unfortunately not piece the whole thing together. I think we talked about the aquaduct and water systems, a castle nearby, and a smattering of other topics. Anyway, lunch ended and Shimoie bid us ado, sending us off to go adventure with Makiko.

So many places. We must've walked at least 8 or 9 miles that day, which isn't terrible, but still, it's enough to make you wanna sit down in the middle of the street and just yell at the cars honking at you, "MY FEET HURT, CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND MY PAIN?!"

Highlights included going to the 21st century museum and playing around like a kid (peep those pictures on FB for a second, you'll see what I mean), bopping around the samurai district, talking to Makiko about her life over dinner, and a bunch of shtuff. By the end of the night it honestly felt like we had known Makiko like an old pal, maybe the cool aunt. Yeah, that's what she's like.

I'll keep this post to a somewhat reasonable length because of laziness and I'm hoping Mr. Helitzer will actually read the damn thing.

ピース、ビッチザ