たこ焼! (Tacoyaki) and my host family!

I must say, my fellow Valpo students and I were very blessed to have a fellow student who had been here the semester before! He has led us to several different dining out experiences, and last night we got to enjoy tacoyaki, or octopus balls! It was a new experience for all 4 of us, that was for sure. We each ordered a dinner of 8 tacoyaki balls for around 円３００ (about $3.00) at this tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant with only two tables that sat 4 and a 'bar' that sat two. It was clearly a family operation, a mom and pop shop.



There were two really interesting regulars at the bar who hushed to listen every time I tried to speak Japanese to the waitress(I am the designated orderer for our group). The tacoyaki, slightly larger than donut holes and each filled with a chunk of octopus, looked delicious and were covered with a type of steak sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. Japanese mayo is delicious and is put on everything here. While I wasn't a fan of the texture of the tacoyaki, the flavor was good.









After dinner, we walked down an street leading to Makino train station that was full of shops, bookstores, 百円(dollar) stores, butcher shops, barber shops, etc. It was just after 7PM, so all the shops had closed for the evening- which is something else that takes some getting used to. There is no such thing as a 24-hour store or a Walmart in Japan. The only store remotely close that IS open 24 hours is a McDonald's. Clearly staying out late is not part of Japanese culture. This means no late-night snack runs or last minute errands. You must be prepared all the time!





Today, after our our orientation to what we could expect from host family life, aka expect the unexpected, we received preliminary information on the dynamics of our families! Here is what i know about my family:

Junji Yuo- Age 56, my host father and a company employee
Michiyo Yuo- Age 58, my host mother and a housewife

The have one dog, and their hobbies include calligraphy and painting. At least one of them speaks English, and they hope to learn more from me through daily conversations. Their reasons for hosting students is because they would like to have more people in their family, which is a good reason! Neither one of them drinks or smokes, and my commute from their house to school is only about 45 minutes. I am excited and lucky to have this family, because I feel that they will be very protective of me. If they would have had children, they would be my age, so I feel that they will be loving. While I AM disappointed that I don't have any little siblings, I am also a little releived because I will have plenty of time to do my homework in quiet and be around other people who enjoy peaceful activities like painting, calligraphy, etc. Cool beans!



So to celebrate my placement with a host family (and because we enjoy eating out) me and my Valpo friends went to a good, traditional Japanese restaurant with low tables where they played the greatest hits of Bob Dylan, Pat Benatar, and Elton John, mixed with the Japanese dubbed versions of similar songs. Authentic, right? The food was delicious, and definately authentic Japanese. They made the noodles right next to our table using a pasta machine just like the pasta maker my family tried to use once when I was a kid. Pretty cool! However, our waiter was a nice young man who didn't speak a word of English. So when checkout time came, I assumed I asked him for separate checks, but neither of us knew the correct phrases to tell the other that we didn't understand, and we fell into a 10 minute language barrier war because he was too polite and I was too polite and none of us realized it wasn't a restaurant that you pay the waiter, but pay at the door. It was interesting being lost for words, saying the wrong obnoxious phrases, and struggling in general with no easy way out. Everyone had a good laugh though, and I successfully paid for our meals and said goodbye.



It has been a good few days! I ate at McDonalds just to see what it was like in Japan. It's the same; the food is less filling, but you crave more of it when you're done. I also finally got my CELL PHONE!!! These phones are interesting because the messaging is free, but it uses an email account set up for your phone, so essentially, anyone who has an email address can text me at any time throughout the day! Also, incoming calls for me are free, though outgoing are not. Here is my phone messaging email and my number:

slouise01@softbank.ne.jp
08038435499



Call, email, text, whatever, whenever! I would love to hear from any of you.

That's all for now, good night!

- Sarah