February 15

I got up at about 9:00 today. I had hit the alarm and was getting ready to sleep again when I herd okaasan call. She wasn’t calling me, but I woke up anyway. It was probably for the best though because I was having another bad dream.

I spent two whole hours talking with my family and friends on skype today. I can’t believe how much I miss everyone. Afterward, I had nikumon with otousan and began studying for my Japanese exam on Monday (pretty evil after a week-long break).

When 2:00 rolled around, I went with Otousan to pick up okaasan from the chikatetsu eki to to to Asuke. Asuke is a (very old) neighborhood in Nagoya that is no longer a neighborhood, but a shopping district. It was particularly pretty and since hina matsuri is coming up, all of the shops have their doll sets on display. There are some that are about a hundred years old (as okaasan says), but most of them are in the same style. When we first got there, we stopped by the sake shop to litterally get two bottles filled and visit a bit with the shop owner. I was labeled the (kawai) atarashii hito. We walked around the village (where okaasan pointed out the yuubinkyoku and the ginko) before returning for the sake order. Okaasan and the owner exchanged jokes I could only half-understand and we had (tiny) tea before leaving.

I was really tired on the way back and when we did get home, my Japanese studies were interrupted twice by hirune. We had udon for dinner (I think it’s what okaasan makes when she doesn’t really want to cook) and it was delicious (of course). In the udon soup were tiny mushrooms, chicken, fried tofu (which is delicious, unlike uncooked tofu), leeks, and cabbage. There was also a kind of “seafood salad” that okaasan was worried I would not eat, but I told her I wanted to try it, so she gave some to me. It was tiny squid (about 2” long), wakame seaweed, and tiny mushrooms. I was worried a whole squid would feel bad to eat, but it was delicious! I was glad she gave me two, despite otousan suggesting it might be too much if I didn’t like it.

Dessert was mochi (oh no!). It was actually pretty good (probably because it was green tea flavored and filled with sweet bean paste) and I would eat it again if offered to me. Then again, if given a choice, I would probably choose something else.

Otousan seems to have a toothache, so he didn’t eat much at dinner. We talked about the leading woman politicians in America. He asked me who I liked the most out of Sarah Palen, Laura Bush, Condalisa Rice, Michelle Obama, and Hillary Clinton. I couldn’t come up with an honest answer, so I told him I didn’t know and that they were all politicians to me. Otousan seems to like Condalisa Rice and Hillary Clinton the most (for their knowledge) and Sarah Palen the least (for her lack thereof). I had a feeling that was the answer when I asked why he liked her least.

P.S. On the way to Asuke, I saw three of my five favorite cars in less than ten minutes; a Lotus, Stingray, and Miata. I think I also saw an rx-7 (or whichever is the miata-like one with the rounded pop-ups) and an old Mustang GT. I saw a second lotus on the way back.