Home In Osaka

The Bullet Train took about three hours and then I was on the subway for about another hour or so. It is so friggin humid here. Sweat was running down places I do not want to discuss. My host mom met me at the subway and we took a taxie to the house. The doors open and shut automatically on taxies. Way cool.

My host family is great. I took a shower as soon as I got there and as soon as I got out I started sweating...just like GA. My host dad, Yoshi is a hoot. When I walked in the door for the first time he was watching the baseball game, drinking a beer, and smoking a cig. I am not sure why that was so funny. Yoshi drinks and smokes but his cute little wife does not. They took me out for a celebratory dinner...Korean. It is all a blur considering all the Saki and beer Yoshi and I drank. My host mom says we are pefect for eachother. They complimented me on my teeth a lot and Yoshi kept saying how much he liked my spirit. Saki is a wonderful thing.

I met the dog...DIKI (translation: strong boy). They were afraid that I would be scared of big dogs so I showed them a picture of Godiva. They understood. At this house the toilets are set into the ground. This is rather intimidating a takes some getting used to. This is probably the only time I wish I had a penis. Although that would only postpone the inevitable dropping the kids off at the pool. Last time I tried to squat to pee, I caught a cramp in my shin.

We have scheduled a cooking contest. My host mom is already claiming she is going to win. Does this sound familiar?

So Raschelle is hard to say in Japanese so they just call me Rae. It sounds more like Lay. I just cannot stop smiling.

Have you noticed that I am not typing contractions? It is because I cannot find the apostrophe key on the keyboard. HA!