One Week Down

Monday

I took the subway to the city to go to the LABO Party. On the way, my host mom and I had Japanese pizza. Not so good. While I was eating, this little old woman grabs me and is talking to my host mom in Japanese. The woman is touching all over my hands and arms. She was asking my host mom why was I in Japan, where was I from, and she was making comments on how fit I was. Yes, I made sure she said fit. If not, I was gonna pop some poor old lady. She kept grabbing me and saying how strong I was. Maybe she wanted me to carry her groceries. I do not know. Once the old lady left my host mom starts screaming SEXUAL HARRASSMENT. It is so funny the words she knows in English and the ones she does not. I told Yoshi about it over dinner and he asked me if the the old woman was "a resbian". I choked on my salad.

The LABO party was pretty fun. I took lots of pics. Basically the party is a youth gathering for all the kids in LABO program. That would be some of the kids I am in charge of and their host brother or sister. There were about 40 of them and it lasted about three hours. Then we had "tea time" which is where all the kids bring snacks and set them on four long tables and it is a damn free for all. Did not get pics of this. Lesson I have learned: rechargeable batteries suck and you should always have extra.

Rock, paper, scissors is a VERY big deal here. It is how most decisions are made. I am thinking about instituting this when I get back. Smack a bitch? Rock, paper, scissors.



Tuesday

The day came for ME to cook dinner. HOLY CRAP. So me and my host mom ventured to the mall/market thingy and the post office. What an ordeal just to get some stamps and postcards. They only had Tiger (baseball team) postcards, so for my faithful readers this is what you will probably be getting in the mail soon. Find the humor. I know I did. I bought everything I needed to make chicken parmesan for my family. At the market I was armed with a shopping cart and a dictionary. WOW. Dangerous. In the process of fighting over a chicken breast I lost my umbrella. I got the chicken breast, though. I cooked this meal in a kichen with no AC, standing over boiling noodles and steaming sauce, next to a counter that reaches about 3/4 up my thigh. Pics of this to come when I get back. I am typing this blog on my host sisters OLD Imac. I am not trying to push it.
My mother would be proud. My adventures in the kitchen were a hit. They asked me where I learned such mad skills. I told em, "my mama". Yoshi was eating and he kept yelling, "Rae Number 1!"

I got a headache after all that. Went to bed with it....woke up with it...it almost landed me a trip to the hospital. Not to panic...Japanese people go to the hospital for a cold so it is not near as serious as it sounds.