Wednesday, October 10, 2007

My First Inaka Experience

I stayed with Yoshiko and her parents last weekend, in a rural, or inaka, part of Himeji. Yoshiko's parents are very nice people and we had a lot of fun, but I barely understood what they said due to their accent, so I had to look at Yoshiko to translate most of the time. I was the first foreigner they had ever met---her parents are 67 and 71. Most people who live in this area rarely leave it. Yoshiko's father knew that America was a big place and thought there were 100 states! I had to correct him on that one. Here is a photo of us the morning I left (I am half awake). Note that I am taller than both of them :-)





Another one of my mom's former students (and friends with Yoshiko), Keiko, lives in Hirakata with her husband and two kids. Her house is about a 15 min. walk from the university. Yoshiko and I went to her place and had lunch. Keiko's husband works for an alcohol distribution company, so we had champagne and wine as well! There was a lot of reminiscing and laughing about things Yoshiko and Keiko remembered about my family when we lived in Kyoto.

Keiko and her husband have a son, 5, and a daughter, 2. They are constantly moving and all over the place all the time! I finally got the little one to sit down and I read her a book:



Here's a picture of the four of us on the couch:

And here's me with Yoshiko at the Kobe harbor:


That's all for now!
-Monica

5 comments:

Trina said...

First foreigner? Wow, that's a stressful position you were in. I hope you waggled your head a lot and talked incessantly about Coca-cola and Disney, or grabbed normal household items and eyed them suspiciously, maybe sticking a spoon in your nose.

Brea said...

I want to hear the funny stories about your family in Japan!

Brea said...

I want to hear the funny stories about your family in Japan!

Monica said...

BB,
You'll have to remind me to tell you a few in more detail. There was the time where my brother got a peanut stuck up his nose (when he was 4), me getting locked in the ofuro (shower area), and a few others...heh. Oh, I had lice once and had to get special shampoo to use for a week... :-) I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting!

Anonymous said...

I'm fairly certain I got a lego dude's head stuck up my nose as well. hahaha