The end of the month. It flew by, and I normally don't do this at the end of a month, but I think this month deserves special contemplation. First, Tiffany and I went to the World Expo in Aichi-ken, then Golden Week where we had marches... and a lot of fun. Scroll down to read that one. The Artist Circle got started and is now underway. Then a friend passed away and while I'm dealing with that, Dad and Sajo come visit. As soon as they leave, we have another Artist Circle meeting and then a few days later, Anju and Mike arrive in my fair city. Somehow, in this month, I have missed almost every choir practice, and there were (I thought) some extra rehearsals. After Anj and Mike left, I had an interview at the local international center. Not for a job or anything like that, just a chance for the people learning English to hear a native speaker go at it. It was a lot of fun teaching adults English. They knew more than my students and understood a little more of my humor. But still, that's quite a lot to handle in only a month! It flew by!

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Most of their visit was done before they could come to Hamamatsu, so there were only a few Japanese things they had to see. Also, it was the tail end of their trip, so they (and I) were pretty tired anyway. So I tried to show them a more relaxed time instead of cramming too much into it, since they've already seen temples and ridden the train, etc.

Friday, they met Tiffany and I at the train station, pretty late, so there wasn't too much time to do anything. We went to an izakaya (drinking bar) and just just got caught up and chatted and Tiffany got to know them a little more. When we got home, Mike and I started playing Durak, but the others promptly passed out. Mike and I ended up chatting until about 4 in the morning. Needless to say, we were zonked for Saturday and I didn't stay awake until 11:30 (I kept floating in and out of consciousness since 7:00). Tiffany left in the morning to do a "surprise" (straight perm) so I didn't see her in the morning. We all met up in the afternoon, where Tiffany and I took them to Pepper Lunch and had great steaks. Afterwards, we gave them cheesecake crepes, with a whole freaking piece of cheesecake in it!

We went to my place and showed them the comfort of my carpet. It was so comfortable, we just hung out there for a while until it was sunset, where we went to Act City to see all of Hamamatsu bathed in darkness from 45 stories high. Quite romantic, actually, for two couples. We then headed over to a Brazilian restaurant, which has tons of meat that they cut in front of you and serve. Basically, all you can eat, which always ends up leaving us stuffed.

Sunday, we hung out some more by going shopping around town. Took 'em to ZaZa city, a book store, etc. I persuaded them to buy a cream puff. Hee hee. Ain't I evil? But on Monday, unfortunately, Tiffany and I had school, but Anju and Mike made an impromptu decision to go to the Expo! They came back really late, so I didn't have much of a chance to talk with them. The next day, they went to Mt. Fuji but again, they had some train problems (in that it was going in the wrong direction) so they got back pretty late too. I know you're all dying to see more pictures, but unfortunately, we didn't take too many. Sorry. But they had a good time, I hope.

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They hit the ground running. They did so much and yet so little too. It's like that saying, "the more you know, the more you know nothing." The more they saw Japan, the more they saw what they couldn't see. It was such a blur that it's hard to remember the details now, but I do remember it was a blast.

They arrived on Thursday and we met at the hotel. I took them to a tempura restaurant and just chatted. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I was unable to meet them earlier at the station and guide them through Hamamatsu, but they seemed to make it ok. After all, they called me around 8 and said they had just checked in and were in the room, waiting for me. I met up with them after months of not seeing them. They were of course, getting frustrated in the whole lack of communication thing, but when they saw me, it was ok. I took them next door to the station and showed them a restaurant that had tempura, which is deep fried Japanese food. They liked it, but they were more impressed with my Japanese. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on Sajo's face when I broke into Japanese to the waiter and ordered for us all. His jaw dropped as he saw me in action. Woo hoo! After that, we went back to the hotel and I explained the yukata to them. Yukatas are Japanese robes that are worn when one is feeling casual. They are quite comfortable to be in, and they just beg to be relaxed in. This will play a part later in the story.

On Friday, I had to leave them and go to a prior obligation. They meanwhile, traveled the hour and half and got to Aichi-ken, where the Expo was. After absolutely no struggling whatsoever, they got in and enjoyed their time at the Expo, though they didn't see any of the major exhibits. Apparently, reservations are booked all the way through August, so they got to see quite a line. But they tell me that it was mostly Japanese who were there, which makes little sense to me. After all, I was at work in the afternoon, there were no holidays. What were the Japanese doing missing work? They saw many pavilions, including good ol' US of A, but they didn't see the big video of our wonderful, full of life and vigor, totally rational president, George Bush. Tiffany went there a while back through her school and she said she saw a giant video of President Bush saying...some random stuff. Not the first image we Americans wanted to see, but Dad and Sajo didn't see it, so I guess they took it down. Too many Americans complained, probably. They barely scratched the surface of the Expo and what you could see. (I have been there three times and I still haven't seen even half of it). But they had a lot of fun.

But then, they had to figure out how to come back home. I had written all the Japanese characters they would need in case they got lost, and I gave them directions on how to get there, so all they had to do was reverse the order and be done with it. But I can only imagine that it went ok since they called me that night and said they were at the hotel. I met them there and we walked to Pepper Lunch, where you cook your own steak, Japanese style. Sajo REALLY liked it. They give you your plate, which is stone or iron and it's super-hot. Then they put raw meat on it with vegetables and a side of rice. It's served and you sit there and cook the meat and then eat it. They also douse their meat with pepper (could you figure that one out?)

Saturday was reserved for me to show of my city, and good ol' Hamamatsu did not disappoint. We first met for breakfast at their hotel. I showed them how to properly eat onigiri, which is you take the green flaky stuff (seaweed) and wrap it around the rice cake and eat the whole thing. Once Sajo knew how, he really liked it. Then I did the unthinkable. Foreigners living in Japan, you'll hate me for what I did to them. I gave them natto, because I could. To see details of that horrendous cuisine, read about it here! Naturally, Sajo didn't like it and Dad didn't even try it.

We left to one of my schools, Nanyo, and they seemed to like the area and the school. They were asking questions about my school life and where I taught and how the students were, so that was nice. Sajo even had me explain the kanji characters on film. Embarrassing. When we left, it was about time to eat lunch. We were planning to go to my other school, but time would not permit it. They found out that Yamaha and Honda are based in Hamamatsu and that they do give tours, so they wanted to see that. Except that Honda gives tours of motorcycles and Yamaha gives tours of pianos. They lost interest. So we went back to Hamamatsu Central (My school is in a "suburb" of Hama) and ate at Surabaya, an Indonesian place. I have been there a grand total of four times but I really like it. The last time I went was in December. When I walked in, the waiter looks at me and says in Japanese, "Long time, no see!" Uh...yeah it has been a while. But WHY DO YOU RECOGNIZE ME? I asked Sajo and he responded, "how many Indians walk in this place?" Oh, right, good point. They really liked the food there too. Sweeeeeet.

I had already shown Sajo my collection of Transformers (Binaltech series, check 'em out!) and he kinda wanted to buy one. Hee hee. Nobody can escape the call of cars that turn into robots! But...he didn't buy one. And then we walked to Hamamatsu Castle Park, where I got to show them Hama's version of a castle. It's kinda cool if you've never seen a castle before. But if you've been to Himeji, it isn't. Sajo liked looking over "his" kingdom, and then I showed them the Zen garden and the waterfall and the koi pond. Bad Ass san was still there, looking ever stern and powerful. I finally learned his name a while back, but forgot to mention it on the site, so here it is: Ieyasu Tokugawa, the great unifier of Japan.

After that, we took the bus to Act Tower, where they went up 45 stories and saw all of Hamamatsu from afar. And they took a lot of pictures and movies of the Shinkansen bullet trains as they passed below us looking like snakes.

Dad was tired, so we dropped him off at my apartment and Sajo and I...um...went back to the toy store. But then we went to a coffee shop and just had a good talk for a little bit before we had to go to Tiffany's place in Kosai. When we reached there, Tiffany was looking stunning as always and greeted them. [thump, thump, thump] But it went famously. We went to okonomiyaki, a Japanese pizza/omelet(depending on who you talk to), and Sajo loved it. In fact, every meal, he kept saying, was better than the last one! Boy howdy did Tiffany and I blush a little at that comment. Hee hee. We then went to Tiffany's place and essentially crashed.

This space reserved for intermission to catch a breath, get some refreshments, etc.

Sunday was a somber day. The three of us, since I didn't have school, went to Hiroshima together. They were enthralled because we managed to get the newest train line, the Nozomi to go there. Supposedly it's the fastest (potentially) of the Shinkansen, but they liked it because it was so streamlined. But then we got to the Peace Memorial Park and spent a few hours there, just wandering and wondering how this was allowed to happen. We spent most of the afternoon there, reading about the Enola Gay, Hiroshima before and what it looked like immediately after the bombing. Staggering to think one bomb caused that much damage. Staggering to remember that the bomb killed 200,000 people and stunted growths and killed children still in the womb. Staggering to see statues of the bodies as they were melting from the intense heat. Staggering to see shadows of people, but no person. Sajo and I did meet a survivor of sorts. We weren't sure exactly where he was during the bombing, but he lost his friend and parents to that bomb. He was there that day just standing there calmly. He is 74 now and this years marks the 60th anniversary of the bombing. Every mayor of Hiroshima, incidentally, since the bombing of Hiroshima, every country that does nuclear testing receives a letter from the mayor of Hiroshima pleading them to stop nuclear testing and to stop this indiscriminate and destructive violence. The wall had quite a few letters.

That night, I took them to a place with jail cell bars in the private room. They had eel and sashimi (raw salmon on a bed of rice noodles) and they were thinking it was a good meal, until the steak came. This steak melts in your mouth and it's truly amazing. When Sajo had one, it was back to "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Wow." Hee hee.

I had school on Monday, so the dynamic duo went to Kyoto and spent a few hours there. Sajo did find his katana (Japanese samurai sword) and they saw Kinkakuji (Golden Temple). Then they came back to Hamamatsu, where Tiffany and I took them out to Yakiniku (grilled meat). And yes, before you ask, "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. It just keeps getting better!"

Tuesday I had school too, so they went to Tokyo for a half day. They took a tour which they really liked then came back to Hamamatsu to await my arrival. We started at my place and took pictures of me in my kendo armour with Sajo's katana. Check those out! We then went to the Garlic Restaurant (that's its name!) and had some shrimp with a huge flame, some roasted salmon, and a fried crepe with ice cream. "Wow. Did you see the size of that flame?!"

Wednesday morning, I met them for breakfast before school and they had to leave back for Nagoya Airport. Take care, guys! It was a blast!

We now conclude this incredibly long story. The End. Fin. [phew!]

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