Today was low-key. My host mother Ruriko made us breakfast (onigiri, scrambled eggs and apple-flavored yoghurt), I walked with my host father and brothers (four-year-old Kousei and five-year-old Kouta) to the bus stop, took a thirty-minute ride to the station and then a twenty-minute ride to Kobe. I was in my Japanese class from nine thirty until twelve, and then my friend and I discovered the most amazingly amazing sushi place in Sannomiya station (only in Japan would I trust a restaurant in a train station). We ate, talked about our weekends (I saw my favorite group in concert twice and she went to Universal Studios in Osaka with her host family), then walked back to the school for kanji class. Then I walked to the train station, met one of my classmates on the platform and got to know her better (she's from Germany, but her mother is Japanese, so she's staying with her grandfather while she lives here and studies the language).
Up until then, it was a calm, happy day. Then I arrived home and I played with my host brothers until it was time for dinner. My host mother usually cooks breakfast and dinner and they're always incredible, but last night she asked if I would be interested in having okonomiyaki, a signature dish of the Kansai region that's rumored to be almost impossibly delicious. My host mother told me that the woman who lives next door just opened an okonomiyaki restaurant, and my host mother had told her we would stop by for dinner.
Before we left, Kousei found one of the uchiwa (a large round fan that Japanese vendors sell at concerts -- usually featuring a picture of a member of the group) I'd bought at the concert. I have four -- one that I made myself and three that I bought representing my three favorite members of the group: Shibutani Subaru, Murakami Shingo and Yokoyama You. Subaru's my favorite, so of course Kousei likes to play with his uchiwa best.
The concerts were incredible. Kanjani8 (関ジャニ∞) has been my favorite group for about a year. I'll explain the Japanese music industry in a later post, but suffice it to say for now that the Japanese have way higher expectations of their artists than America does. One member of Kanjani8 is in two groups, appears in dramas (Japanese TV shows, most of which are usually only ten or so episodes with no additional seasons), variety shows and sometimes radio programs. Every week. They live in a fascinating world.
And they're fantastically hot.
I did mention that, right?
Oh, but back to food. Ruriko drove us down to the restaurant and this sweet, grinning woman prepared okonomiyaki for us. It was unreal it was so good. Okonomiyaki is basically a batter of flour, egg and water with cabbage, pork or shrimp or something else, udon or soba and topped with pure amazing. I can't put my love into words.
I have a video of her making it, but it's a bit too big for blogger to support. So, instead, pictures!
It's going to be so difficult to leave such a wonderful country! But I'm so happy to be here, I rarely think about when I'll have to leave!
2 comments:
Sounds like you're having an amazing time! Last night I hung out with a guy who lived in Tokyo for four years and speaks fluent Japanese, and then we met some people from Tokyo who are living in London. It made me think of you and miss you more than ever. Big virtual hug!
Wow, Ciara, the food looks yummy. There are a few Japanese restaurants near Gold Canyon. I wonder if they would know how to prepare such great meals!
Lov'ya, Mom
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