Another Month, gone!

Well, my parents were in Japan from the 13th to the 22nd! It was a blast!
(Mom and Dad at Ueno Park)

We went to Kyoto, Osaka, Minakami and (of course) Tokyo. Here's a smidgen of photos, you can find the rest on my facebook page (as soon as I load them ^_^)

Our second night in Tokyo, we enjoyed fine Japanese cuisine at a bar in Asakusa.
And by that, I mean we had fried chiken, oya-ko don, and some good Japanese beer.
mmm-mm!

Mom and I are happy that our shinkansen has arrived, but are anxious to get on board and eat!! (Please note: the beer. eki-ben always taste better when consumed on the train, with a beer!)

Here we are, in Kyoto! The first one is Kinkaku-ji, and the other is Chio-in dera.
Chio-in is a pretty sweet Buddhist temple. You are allowed to go inside, even if there is a ceremony going on! I believe it is pure-land Buddhism. I think pure-land is the one where anyone can reach...the pure land? Enlightenment? Well, I make no claims to know anything about Buddhism, but I know that this place has a really great atmosphere. It's kind of 'off the beaten path' so it's never as busy as the other temples. Plus, being able to sit inside the temple and listen to the chanting is a unique experience that I really enjoyed!

We were in Kyoto for St. Patrick's Day...and wouldn't you know? I didn't wear green that day! At least we got a good Guinness. Yum yum.
I managed to convince my parents to go to karaoke that night (after we got some not-delicious after the beer)

The didn't think they would enjoy it, butI think they had more fun than I did!

We went to Osaka on the 18th, to catch the fourth day of the Osaka Sumo Tournament. It was a massive event. And I mean....MASSIVE!


The pic on the right shows Dad's favorite wrestler: Yamamotoyama (山本山). He's so big, his name has TWO mountains in it! He won that night, but he's not doing well currently. He is 5-4.
There are 15 days in a sumo tournament, and each day the [top ranked men] wrestler one match. The lower ranks start from 9:30 am and go all the way through lunch time. The high-ranked pros don't start until 3, and they finish at 6.
We were there from 11am to 6pm. It was pretty awesome.

We also went to Minakami to visit my other host family. It was a relaxing time, because we were out of Tokyo and Kyoto, and didn't have to worry about catching trains or buses. We could just sit and soak in the breath-taking mountain views of Tanigawa Mountain:



Our time at the Yamaji Pencion was spent mostly doing things like drinking coffee, eating gourmet meals, napping and taking baths. It was a very relaxing time! I got to play monopoly with my host family while my parents went to bed early. Jetlag is a drag sometimes (all the time >.<)

I was reunited with my host family...There's Mitsuki and I being silly, and then me helping clean up. It's almost like I never left!

So, there's a peak into my time with my parents. All 6 of them. Now, if my Tokyo and Minakami host parents ever come to Kansas at the same time, that is going to be a very trying experience for me. Can you imagine having three mothers and three fathers all at once? Especially since they all have such different personalities! Ah!

OH! I also did puri-cura with my parents...but I didn't get the photos sent to my cell :( Let's just say, you don't need/want to see them. We are so dazzling, it's a danger to your health!

I'm making no promises for my next post...but I have an idea for my next short one already :)
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Let's learn Japanese!

oya-ko don (親子丼) It means "parent-child bowl". It's scrambled egg and chicken on top of rice, plain and simple. But it's seasoned with soy sauce, mirin, and sake, so it's not that plain. It's one of my favorite bowl dishes!

ekiben／eki bento　(駅弁／駅弁当) ekiben is the abbreviated way of saying ekibento. The Japanese love to make abbreviations to make words easier to say. So instead of saying "Staion Lunch Box" you say "Station Lunch" (basically...)

shinkansen　(新幹線) the bullet train. People (my parents) always get confused when I use the Japanese word...Not that I blame them. I didn't know the word Shinkansen until my second year of learning Japanese.

<3