Thursday, May 29, 2008
A visit from the folks
My parents come out to Japan to visit this past weekend. I still can't get over how cheap it is for them to get here and how retarded the whole 'kids over 23 can't get benefits' thing is. Only $300 round trip for the both of them. Guess it pays to have family in the airline industry!
They came into Kofu via bus on Thursday afternoon and we ate at a cafe in Kofu station while waiting for the next train to my station. They were both pretty tired so once at my place we laid out the futons and went to bed.
The next day I took a few hours vacation to sleep in and take them out to breakfast at my local bakery, Mont Marlow. I also took a ton of pictures of them using the vending machine outside the bakery. It was my dad's first, but definitely not last, time using a Japanese vending machine.
Then it was off to work for me. When I got back home, we went out for some hoto at the local hoto place. Hoto is something everyone who comes to visit me must try as it’s the dish my area is famous for. Tastes really good to. My parents enjoyed the hoto place and the lady who owns the restaurant took her picture with them and gave them some gifts. They only downside to the whole thing was that we were sitting on the tatami and my parents aren't quite used to eating while sitting on the floor. Thus there were a few leg cramps going around, but they managed to survive!
After dinner we headed over to LRiver, a popular bar in my town. Especially for us foreigners! I already knew a group of people who be coming as a friend was holding her birthday party there that night. We got there a bit early but as people started showing up, I began to introduce my parents to my friends. And after a while, karaoke started up. Best part of the evening was these two drunken Japanese guys who took a liking to my dad. First, these guys were kind of strange to begin with. Normally, when a big group of the local ALTs show up, we scare away all the Japanese people. It normally takes less than 30min for them to pack up their things and go. These guys however, bucked the trend and rather than leaving actually started talking with us. The horror! They really seemed to like my dad in particular. Started off by calling his scary and by the end of the night were calling him sempai. I should also point out that they were fairly toasted.
We ended up staying way later than I thought we would and had to catch a taxi home. Not too bad for a first full day in Japan!
They came into Kofu via bus on Thursday afternoon and we ate at a cafe in Kofu station while waiting for the next train to my station. They were both pretty tired so once at my place we laid out the futons and went to bed.
The next day I took a few hours vacation to sleep in and take them out to breakfast at my local bakery, Mont Marlow. I also took a ton of pictures of them using the vending machine outside the bakery. It was my dad's first, but definitely not last, time using a Japanese vending machine.
Then it was off to work for me. When I got back home, we went out for some hoto at the local hoto place. Hoto is something everyone who comes to visit me must try as it’s the dish my area is famous for. Tastes really good to. My parents enjoyed the hoto place and the lady who owns the restaurant took her picture with them and gave them some gifts. They only downside to the whole thing was that we were sitting on the tatami and my parents aren't quite used to eating while sitting on the floor. Thus there were a few leg cramps going around, but they managed to survive!
After dinner we headed over to LRiver, a popular bar in my town. Especially for us foreigners! I already knew a group of people who be coming as a friend was holding her birthday party there that night. We got there a bit early but as people started showing up, I began to introduce my parents to my friends. And after a while, karaoke started up. Best part of the evening was these two drunken Japanese guys who took a liking to my dad. First, these guys were kind of strange to begin with. Normally, when a big group of the local ALTs show up, we scare away all the Japanese people. It normally takes less than 30min for them to pack up their things and go. These guys however, bucked the trend and rather than leaving actually started talking with us. The horror! They really seemed to like my dad in particular. Started off by calling his scary and by the end of the night were calling him sempai. I should also point out that they were fairly toasted.
We ended up staying way later than I thought we would and had to catch a taxi home. Not too bad for a first full day in Japan!
