Although I was not nervous for my homestay, I felt anxious as we left to meet the families. The only contact I had with the family was a note with their names and hobbies. I had no idea what to expect. Others had received emails and updates about what they had planned. I simply decided I was going to show up with a good attitude. The one thing I was aware of was the 2 year old liked to play hide and seek and the 7 year old liked to paint. I figured I could handle those two things. The Oohatas turned out to be great people with a hospitality beyond what I had come to expect from the incredibly hospitable Japanese. It was a little shocking how excited they were to have me. They are from a small town which was very excited to have us. Apparently there were over 200 applications to host 20 Americans.
As we drove to their house he said his english was not so good, as he had not studied since high school. He then handed me a Japanese phrase book and he showed me his. I with the Japanese pride being so strong, he was embarrassed he could not speak English. I reminded him I knew no Japanese so he was much further along than me.
The Oohatas are a young somewhat typical Japanese family. They are different since they really wanted to live in a small, rural town (Apparently most people who grow up in small towns want to get out). They were very proud of their "European" house surrounded by rice paddies and a handful of traditional Japanese homes. The house was pretty western, with the practicality and feel of Japan. Taketsug (the father) is 39 and an engineer for Hitachi making GPS units. Mako is a serious mom and has only been speaking english since they found out I was coming. Riku (the 2 year old) was a typical little boy and was obsessed with Ultraman. (Ultraman is the most watched live action / animation in the world. It has been around for thirty years. Imagine Godzilla type creatures, you know the really bad rubber looking monsters meets the Power Rangers, meets the Superfriends, yes, it is as bad as it sounds.) Wakasa is a shy but curious 7 year old 2nd grader.
Apparently hospitality in Japan is like many other places and involves mountains of food. I was immediately at the table eating a mountian of food. Mako decided to present a smorgasbord of Japanese cuisine, so I was in for quite the food fest (I was already a little worried what was going to presented). The first round was excellent, tempura, soba noodles, sashimi, plums, cucumbers, rice balls, miso soup and a few other things.
Our plans for the day involved shopping. I was not super excited, but they certainly were. Shopping was not the first thing that came to my mind when I came to Hitachiota, but alas I could not argue. It turns out they had a plan. I was to be given the opportunity to get some truly Japanese souvernirs and they had made it their mission to make sure I got good deals and not "bad" versions, because apparently that is all they sell in Tokyo. So after a full shopping bag of things they picked up for me, I was all set with authentic sake ceramics, a yukata robe, a few wood block printed t-shirts and various other things.
The rest of the day was hanging out flying kites and eating. The second round of eating was a little more adventurous. Mako asked my what I had and had not eaten (as far as I could tell from the small amount of english she spoke). She decided to fix a few more of the things I had not partaken in. Sugiyaki was a bit of a surprise. I has texture issues and there is some serious texture problems with sugiyaki. Imagine boiling bacon in broth, throwing in some jelly like fish cubes, some really slippery muchrooms and thin little rice noodles. Then in your bowl crack an egg. I was waiting for the part you cooked the egg or put hot broth to mildly cook the egg. I think they were worried when they saw the look in my eye when I said "you eat the raw egg!" They demonstrated for me, and indeed you slurped the raw egg mixed witht the mess of already questionable food. Thank goodness he poured a beer for me. I ladled some of the cold broth product into the beaten egg and slurried it around, and slipped it into my mouth. The trick I've learned is to simply let this sort of stuff slide down the back of your throat. Don't even attempt to chew. The great thing is the whole family watches as you eat so I big smile is necessary. Thank goodness she had about 50 other things. I kept raving about the wonderful sashimi (which was amazing... I am spoiled for life) so that meant she kept it on my plate. Every once in a while I would hurry a little sugiyaki just for show.
After stuffing my face and smiling, the kids were goign crazy about Hanuba or Hannuka or something. Riku kept yelling it over and over. Little did I know, but arrival marked a special occassion and the kids got pick out fireworks for the occassion. They were stoked.
After dinner Taketsugi asked me if I drank sake and I said I had not really enjoy any good sake yet. He both grimaced and smiled. He said "good sake make you go to heaven, bad sake make you go to hell." We headed out to the local store. To the unitiated, such as myself, I thought there was just sake. Apparently I am mistaken. The selection of sake is similar to the selection of wines you would find at Albertsons. Of course in Japanese I could not tell one thing from the next. He made it a mission to find stuff he thought I would like. Indeed his choices were good. After the children went to bed he smiled and Mako giggled. They said they were used to going to bed at around 9:30. It was already quater to ten. They brought out small cedar boxes and said it was the way you drank sake if you live in the cedar filled mountains they lived in. The cedar added a very nice taste. We laughed, tried to carry on a conversation and had a nice evening.
At about 12:30 I felt the house move and thought maybe a little too much sake was in my head, but the house kept moving and I realized I was in the middle of a Japanese earthquake. I looked at the them and said "big, little or medium?" They were pretty unphased and responded "medium-big." For about 25 seconds things wiggled and moved and then we poured a bit more sake. When you live on an island filled with volcanos and centered on faults, 5.0 earthquakes are not much to worry about. It added to an already great experience. I headed to bed on the floor, as that is what all Japanese do. And the Japanese futon is considerably different then the futons we are familiar with. Much thinner, but considerably softer. It made for a great place to sleep and I was beat, so it felt pretty good.
