Field trip with mom... and a little more.
Mom announced yesterday that I’m going with her for a field trip today, ‘no buts’. That I’m too passive and down and that it’ll do me good. u.u So much for telling me some two weeks ago that I’m old enough to know better…
Lately she’s been a lot into bio-energy and was visiting this resort of a kind with a friend of hers. She goes there nearly every weekend, even though it’s a 3-hour-drive to get there. I think she’s obsessed. >_<
So I woke up at 6AM, went to the obligatory morning basketball practice and came back home at 9:30 to pancakes and cream. I took my plate to my room to call Dai in peace because he was about to go to bed in France, but she didn’t seem too pleased, announcing that we have to go at 10 to be there in time. So I ate and showered and got dressed while on the phone (I’m getting good at this, thank heaven for speakers on cell-phones). She packed us some quick lunch and then we were off.
I didn’t feel very communicative with her, especially because of the way she had been barging in on my conversation with Dai with that commanding tone of hers that makes me feel like I’m 6, not 16 and a half, but she just kept chatting, telling me this and that and how we were going first to meditate in a pyramid (???) and then go for a long walk among the woods and to cleanse our spirit, how she was sure that was exactly what I needed. It’s times like those that I sometimes wonder if dad divorced for her perks, but it’s a mean thing to think. >_<; I love her and she’s a great mom, but sometimes she’s just… really stubborn when she’s got a plan set in her mind.
So we ate the sandwiches she prepared for lunch on the go and came there at 1PM. It literally felt like being in the middle of nowhere, with little old-style houses and woods all around. Right before she parked the car I saw a man hugging a tree and I pointed this out to her, feeling like she’s brought me to a nuts camp. She explained how it’s good for people to hug trees, that they have a lot of positive energy to give us. So when she did park in front of an ordinary looking little house and we were exiting the car, I saw the same man running towards us and felt a little unnerved. He looked about 50, with grey hair and was running rather impressively for his age. Turned out he was the husband of the bio-energy woman in front of whose house we’d just parked. He took both of my hands in his to shake and nearly shouted welcomes, dragging us happily in into the house to present us to his wife. The woman in question looked nothing out of the ordinary, and acted it too. She smiled and shook my hand, offering both mom and me tea. Her and mom chatted like old friends and throughout the conversation I was told her husband was nearly 70 years old, surprisingly. O.O;
Soon more people came (among which my mom’s colleague) and they all talked with the woman like they knew her their whole lives. But long story short; we all piled into the garden. It was a traditional one, with running water and bamboos, but a little wilder and not as rigid. In the back there stood a steep wooden construction with a glass top and it really looked like a miniature pyramid. When we entered, I had to keep hunched over. I probably could have stood straight in the middle, but there was a little table there filled with all sorts of mineral stones and incense there. We settled in, sat down and meditated… or actually just relaxed in my case. It felt a bit unnerving at first being in such a small place with other people, but they all closed their eyes and put their palms upwards on their knees and I had no choice but do the same.
I don’t know the first thing about bio-energy but it did feel nice. Once an hour rounded, people seemed to wake up one by one and started talking to the woman about what they felt during the meditation and if things have improved for them in the past week and I realized a little too late that I had to do so as well. I didn’t know what to tell her when she looked at me, I couldn’t say I was there cuz my mom forced me to come - but thankfully mom told her for me, saying I’ve been a little down lately and that she wanted to bring me here to give me a boost for the new school year. I felt a little silly, the other people had a lot worse problems than that, but the woman just patted me on the hand and told me it’s a relief and that everybody’s welcome to come, no matter the reason.
Later on we went for that walk with mom’s friend. I’ve actually seen the woman a couple of times, but I can’t remember her name. >_< It’s something really ordinary, but it always slips my mind. We were walking through a path in the woods with her huge dog, who I surprisingly remember the name because it’s extremely contradictory; he’s as tall to lean his head on my stomach when he wants to be petted, but is called ‘Chan’. I know he’s a sheep-dog, pureblood, but I forget which kind~ >_<; I’ll ask when I get the chance.
So I let them chat away between themselves and rather concentrated on the dog, speaking only when they directly dragged me into the conversation. Mom was telling how I had basketball practice in the morning and how she thought we were gonna be late, and then her friend commented how tall and handsome I was and that I, no doubt, have won the heart of many girls… I didn’t intend to say anything to that, just thank her for the random praise, but my mom jumped in saying that, oh nonono - I have a boyfriend. I don’t really mind people knowing at school, or in Tokyo… but out there? I just went completely rigid. I KNEW she would have her revenge for me running away like that with Dai. In fact, she told her all about how we worked together, dramatizing a little how Dai saved me when I collapsed and how we ‘eloped to gods know where’ straight after I felt better. And that now, since he’s a professional football player for the French league and has to stay in France to train during the year, I got depressed because I missed him. I just petted the dog and rolled my eyes at it all until I felt they would roll out of my sockets if I did it again. The woman didn’t seem too fazed, a little surprised tho. She asked mom how Dai looked like and what he was like and my mom answered her in a fashion that… made me think she’s sort of proud of him. She knew his record schedule for the past year he spent in France, she knew how tall he was and how hard he trained, which positions he played best and could list a whole set of minor and non injuries he had. I told her all that during the year, when Dai told me, but I didn’t think she would pay attention… or even remember.
They also talked about other, more embarrassing things. How mom thought was cute when we were too shy to kiss in front of her (really, why would I snog Dai in front of my mother? What kind of a logic is that?! >_<) and how she thought it was considerate to leave us alone for an evening every now and then (I wanted to die on the spot when she said that), but eventually, since I didn’t join in to let them fuel the theme, they slowly moved to other things.
On the ride back I thought of a lot of things. I didn’t really ever consider my being with Daisuke becoming part of my mom’s life, as well. I always just thought it was something I’d take care of and live with… but it’s nowhere near that simple. I didn’t really expect her to accept it, even though I wished she would. I never really told her straight-forward… she just knew. She overheard us talking before Dai decided to go to France last fall… but she confessed she suspected for a lot longer. It makes me feel selfish a bit for forcing her to accept it… even though I know our family, biological family, never was truly traditional. We don’t bake traditional sweets, we don’t do festive preparations, or wear red for New Years or decorate the Christmas tree on time. Because there always were other problems to solve, other priorities, and at the end of the day, what mattered most, was still being able to smile, nothing more. So, in the end, I think even the present, is a chain reaction in the line of events; Daisuke makes me smile, and I make her smile - and she thinks that’s all we need.