February 22

Today, okaasan and otousan went to visite their son and his wife at their house. Okaasan got dressed up really nice for the occasion.

An hour or two after they left, I heard a car (with bull-horns) go down the road emitting what seemed to be only random words. I heard things such as denshi-reenji, cd-player, jitensha, pesokon, etc. I wonder what it was for. Perhaps it was the trash collector.

Around one, I headed to the chikatetsu eki to meet up with Keily and Anna. Today, we got to wear kimono!!! I was so excited. Keily lives about the same distance (time frame) away from the Nisshin eki as me, but in the opposite direction. It seems like she lives further away though because she has a very winding journey by comparison to mine.

I had to stop by the grocery store on the way to Keily’s house because I hadn’t bought any omiage for her okaasan (for letting us come over). I bought a pack of bean-paste filled biscuits for her since they looked cute (there were five designs that looked like flowers, leaves, etc.) and not too cheap (though I didn’t have to spend too much).

When we got to her host parents’ house, I didn’t realize it (though I should have from the accounts of her mother that Keily gives me). It was a white house with a wrot iron gate and pink flowers everywhere. The inside is decorated with lots of dolls, flowers, and pink. The coolest part though, is the vacuum. When you see it, you think it is a manequin with a doll’s head (very creepy) and a spotted human-size dress, but when you look under the bottom of the skirt (which I was reluctantly made to do; saseraremashita), you see the vacuum.

Soon after, we had our hair done by Keily’s mom. Since my hair was too short, she put a bit of gel and some flowers in it, and we were done. Anna and Keily had to wait a bit longer because they have long hair and it had to be put up. Keily’s host mom used some of the Japanese decorations like the shibori sashes, painted combs, and fabric flowers for their hair. She told us that most people don’t know how to do their hair for kimono (and some don’t know how to put on kimono) so they usually have it done at a salon.

After our hair was done, we put on the kimono (had them put on us, more accurately). There is so much that goes into it! There is an under kimono, a collar stiffener, an extra collar, too many sashes to count, the actual kimono, the obi, a sash that goes under the obi, and the tie for the obi. It took quite a while for Keily’s okaasan to put all of this on each one of us. I was designated the smallest (though I think I’m about the same as Anna), so I wore the pink kimono. Anna wore the red with purple (such good colors!) and Keily wore orange. Apparently, I am too short even by Japanese standard, because the under kimono had to be pinned up so it wouldn’t show, being longer than the kimono.

Once we were all dressed, we took a long photo shoot inside and outside of Keily’s house. It was really fun (and confusing for Keily’s okaasan who had to figure out all of our cameras).

After the kimono fun, we had un-sushi, made by Keily’s host mother. It was amazing! It was rice with scrambled egg, nori, ebi, salmon, and vegetables (much like sushi, but not assembled). We also had salad with her host mother’s home-made sesame dressing and home-made pudding with strawberries. Keily’s okaasan brought out the omiage I had brought as part of the dessert and thanked Anna and me for bringing omiage, since people usually don’t do so.

It was a bit sad when we had to go, but it was getting late, so we left after the meal.

On the way home, I stopped to get some shampoo. Exciting, no? I was going to buy the cheapest thing I could find, but decided on an American brand (which was a bit more expensive) since it seems like a good investment to get something that won’t leave you itching from over-drying your skin rather than chancing it.

I got home before my host parents by a bit less than an hour. When okaasan did come home, she asked me to help with dinner, which I was happy to do, but she always seems so desperate when she asks me as if I have been fighting her to get out of the responsibility. I guess she expects me to simply offer, but I don’t know the social/cooking conventions (or where half of the supplies are in the house) are to help, so I figure, it might be more embarrassment than help to offer without prompting. Either way, we had bibimbop again because it’s easy to make (I suppose). Okaasan was sorry for the lack of variety, but I was more than happy because I like the dish a lot.

At dinner, otousan asked me where I went today, and I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him, so I told him I went to a friend’s house. Okaasan asked who and once again, I went with the truth and said Keily’s house. I was worried she would be very angry, but she just said she could not relax in that house because there was so much to look at. She said there were roses and things everywhere and pink. I wasn’t sure what would be good or bad to say in front of her, so I went with how pink it was because I too was overcome with its abundance. She asked what we did, and I honestly said we ate sushi. She didn’t seem angry at all. Perhaps I will not be put in a bad position for interacting with Keily’s host mother.

As I see it, I haven’t done anything wrong, nor should I have acted differently. If my host mother and Keily’s host mother do not get along, it is not really my business (nor should it be a problem for me). I have experienced no unkindness from Keily, my host mother, or Keily’s host mother, so I see no reason to avoid any of them. If our host mothers do not get along, then they do not have to get along with each other, but that should not get in the way of me being able to accept my friend’s invitation to her host family’s house or being on good terms with my host family and hers.