An Evening With the Tanabe's

This morning we all met up with our host families (or in most cases, one representative of our host families). My host mother, Yoko Tanabe, was there to meet me and after our quick self-introductions we set off on the fairly long journy to Machida. Despite the fact that she speaks almost no English, I found it very easy to communicate with her which was a huge relief. She was also very relieved that I can understand enough Japanese to have a light conversation, even if I often have to ask her to rephrase something or look up a word in my dictionary.

After taking a subway and three(?) trains and walking through neighborhoods for about 20 minutes, we arrived at their house, a decent-sized (for Japan), two story, incredibly clean home. After dropping my things in my room and giving her my souvenirs from Iowa (special thanks to Mom and Judy, she loved them) we drove to a restaurant for conveyer-belt sushi. I felt a little bad since I didn't eat that much, but I wasn't terribly hungry and there's only so much raw fish and rice that my stomach can take...

After driving back home (which is kind of scary in Japan with it's narrow streets and hidden intersections) we chatted for a bit before walking down to a local festival by the station. The festival was pretty interesting. It was incredibly crowded and there we lots of nifty food stands, but not a whole lot else. It was pretty different than the old-fashioned festivals at shrines you always see in anime, since it was all just set up along a street. After getting some yakisoba, a sausage, and a chocolate covered banana, we were about to leave when we saw a jazz band from a local high school setting up on a stage and decided to watch. They were, as expected, incredibly good. My host mother had also seen Swing Girls so we were excited when they played some of the same songs from the movie.

After that, this badass taiko drum group played on the same stage. Epic shit. That's what I want to do when I grow up. Videos and pics to be posted.

Afterwards, Yoko's husband Fumio, who had just gotten back from work, met us there and we all walked home together. I'm pretty sure Fumio hit the bar before coming home, since he seemed a bit inebriated, but I guess that's normal for Japan, so whatever. After getting back, we all pretty much just ate dinner and then chatted all evening. My favorite part of the evening was when I tried teaching them how to say "McDonalds" in English, as opposed to the Japanese ma-ku-do-na-ru-do.

I still think my Japanese sucks, but its nice to know I can get by in these kinds of situations.

Tomorrow, we're planning on going to the Ramen Museum and meeting Yoko's friend who is studying to be an English teacher. Should be a good time.