A whole week in one entry
October 05, 2008
Last day in Kotohira.
I was very sad that we had to leave. No internet for a whole week, but all the more memories to remember!
Don't know where to start...
On Monday, when we arrived, it was all a bit awkward. The whole family came home one after the other and we had to get to know each other first. The father was very nice, trying to explain everything in English (which he did the whole week) though he knew we already speak Japanese. Moreover, he showed us his CD and DVD collection and proposed burning most of them for us! Soooo nice!
The mother had a weak spot for me and couldn't for the heck of it remember Thanh Thaos name correctly. XD She said that my arms remind her of her best friend, Midori, the doctor-san.
On Monday when we all sat down and had dinner, the father made us try out lots of different food. Like, natto, ochadsuke, chirashi sushi. After, we went spontaneously shopping. They wanted us to take all the things we wanted and put them in the basket. Amazing how generous they
were!
Tuesday was shopping day. Ai went with us to a for the country-side considerately big mall and I bought lots of things. Like, accessories from Claire's and Thanh Thao bought a single shirt from Olives des Olives, because she only brought the clothes on her body with her to Japan. XD
Me eating MOW ice cream and the new haircut. Yes, I'm weak and I want to try everything NEWS is advertising for... ;___;
Wednesday was Chousa day. A kind of autumn festival, where the people from one district push a huge car through the town.
That's how our Chousa looked like. Plus random people. I'm afraid I don't have a picture of the women who dared to ask me if I live in Kotohira. Of course in English. And I answered in Japanese. But she refused to ask her questions in Japanese, so she continued a whole conversation in English. And she assumed that the wall in Germany is still standing, because she asked me whether I came from West or East Germany... O.O
The first one hour we also took part in pushing, but after it was so hot that we didn't want to anymore. On the same day, I got a huge sunburn and had to lie down for a few hours. Thanh Thao went with Ai to the station to collect Ai's sister Yui who returned from her college. The three of them went shopping in the supermarket and brought lots of delicious sweets for me. So cute!
Thursday was Konpira-san, the huge mountain Kagawa is famous for.
I took my umbrella with me so I wouldn't get sunburnt again. Ai is with me in the picture.
The temple on top of Konpira-san has the same name. Ai, Thanh Thao and me went all the 500 steps up to the top. Really exhausting, for me at least. XD The obaachan (auntie) gave Ai all the money we needed to buy omamori and souvenirs. Moreover, we went to an udon shop and had delicious udon in all these awesome variations!
I had kitsune.
There was also oden as aperitif. Don't know how to describe it, you have to try it. It's tasty! You really cannot imagine all these delicious food they have here in Japan. O.O
On Friday, we stood up late and went directly for delicious okonomiyaki.
It was so darn hot on that day! After that, I layed down (again) and Thanh Thao and Ai went to the rental shop and rented Tonari no totoro (which the father burned for me afterwards). They searched fruitlessly for Kurosagi eiga, but it was all gone already. They watched the movie during I was asleep, so mean!
After my nap, we went for dinner to a restaurant about thirty minutes away. But it was berri derishasu! They ordered lots of different food for us, tenpura, two kinds of fish, takotenpura, salads, soups etc. メッチャおいしい！
笑問家 (eemonya), the name of the restaurant.
All in all, we ate about one hour and after, Yuri, Ai, Thanh Thao and me went for Purikura and karaoke, which Kana (the younger sister) and the father joined in later.
The father hold the mic on the other side, very funny! All in all, he reminded me very much of my own father when he didn't have all that stress. ^^; After four hours of Karaoke my voice gave in. XDD The maccha parfait didn't help a lot, but it was derishasu!
Yesterday, we went with the whole family (except for the mother) to an onsen. It was exactly how I thought being in an onsen would be and even better. I almost feel asleep once in the hot water, but all in all you cannot stand the about 42°C for long. ^^;
We all had milk or something like that afterwards, like NEWS did. XDD Really refreshing and berri berri derishasu!!
Because any of us hadn't any breakfast, we went for self-udon. One more experience to remember!
The mother stayed at home to prepare dinner for us, but instead Yui, Ai, Thanh Thao and me, the four of us went to the cinema and saw パコと魔法の絵本 (pako to mahou no ehon), a very cute children's movie. At least we understood most parts of it. I forgot that I was in Japan while watching. XD The cinema was located in the same mall we went to on Tuesday, so excessive shopping afterwards was consecutively obligated.
One of the stores we went in. You can Yui and Ai from behind. The head is Thanh Thao's head. XD
What we didn't know was that Ai and Yui went and bought presents for us! So mean! We received them after dinner and didn't have anything in return. DD: By the way, dinner was Hiroshima-yaki and Yakiudon, which I didn't eat before, but everything sooo derishasu!
While I was packing, Ai and Yui wrote in our new Purichous. The cat (Mii-chan) suddenly exploded. He was scared somehow and literally bounced off the tatami, against Ai's throat, the wall, my luggage and out of the door. We were all pretty shocked! Mii returned ruefully a few minutes later and has yet to be seen. XD
Today, we stood up really late, like about 12PM and had senzai and onigiri for breakfast. The father specially made this senzai for us, a kind of roasted mochi in an anko soup. Yummy! Thanh Thao didn't like it, though. Too sweet. XD The obaachan wanted to buy some more souvenirs for us, so we went to the same store were we already got the Kitty straps (for free) and hesitantly picked a few things.
Four of us in the store. I really like these wooden figures. And my new top! XD
Ai, Yui and the father took us to another station than Kotohira station, Sakaide, which was more useful for going to Shin-Osaka. I was really moved that we had to leave and cried. Thanh Thao was like, "You're actually crying right now?!" XD There's nothing I can do, I'm like that. ^^;
My English suffered a lot during the whole week, perhaps you already noticed. Right now, I'm better in Japanese than English, unfortunately. >.>
Now we're back at the hostel, that's why I can even post this. XD Nothing else to say. Perhaps we're going to the super market next door, but the rest of the day, we'll stay in the hostel and do nothing.