Casa Kojima (Kurashiki, 5/5/2008)

alright folks, to start there are two announcements.

1. this post is out of order. i just felt like adding this one off the top of my head, so deal with it. i will post date the entries before it, so be on the lookout.

2. you will notice a lack of pictures with my posts. i plan to add them after I return. if you're still interested,　come back then and check them out. i hope they will be worth it.

onto the show:

first off (after the announcements, of course), happy cinco de mayo. until this year, this was my favorite non-american holiday. now i may have to go with the japanese 'boy's day', which also happens to be on may 5th. must be serendipity.

we went out on a boat with kosuke's dad today. this guy has to be the funniest guy i know that i don't understand. seriously, i have no idea what he says. ever. but he's still funny. must be genetic.

so i saw the pacific ocean today, from a second location. someday i'll see it from the west coast of the US.　　

after the boat tour we went to the don quixote store (i don't think that's how the japanese would spell it, but since i can't read characters, we'll call it even)this place has everything. and most of it you wouldn't want to buy. good thing it's cheap.　

we also went to a traditional japanese tea ceremony. It was kinda cool to experience, although for the most part it consisted of me asking kosuke "what is going on?" or "what did they just say?" followed by chris asking me the same thing. as an important aside, kosuke had also never been to a traditional tea ceremony either, so he wasn't always much help. at this point, chris and I are as japanese as kosuke. as long as you don't count the speaking, or reading, the language deal.

after tea was the japanese barbeque, which was awesome.they cook approximately everything on the grill, and each person sits by the grill to cherry-pick what they want. there's no 'grill-master' to tell you when things are ready. you just jump at what you see, when you feel inspired. it's pretty awesome. especially when you consider that it includes everything. steak, hotdogs, vegetables, rice (yes, rice on the grill), fish, and squid. It wouldn't be a japanese dinner without squid. I've been here for 3 days, and eaten squid at least as many times. actually, it's pretty good. 　

finally, a note on the kojima clan. kosuke's family is awesome. they are extremely hospitable, helpful, funny, and they try quite admirably to communicate with the americans. sometimes it works. many times is doesn't, but i think it's the trying that counts. part of me wanted to write that it must be part of the japanese culture (and that may be the case as well), but mostly i think it comes down to good people. i know my parents would do the same (well, not the same. there would be no squid, and considerably more english. but you get the point), as well as many of the folks i've stayed with in the past (special honors go to the Bergstroms of the St. Paul, MN area).it just goes to show that having friends pays off. especially if they live half-way around the world.

at this point, it's still the morning of cinco de mayo on the east coast, so make it a good one. have a couple of coronas for me (or dos equis, or pacifico, or tecate - you get the idea). i had a good excuse for passing on the mexican beer this year.
sayanora