Homesick Day

Sumo match
Originally uploaded by pointybunny.

I am having the worst bout of homesickness today! I have to work through it somehow before Taka gets home or I am afraid I will start a stupid argument in the vein of "Take me home now!" Partially its his mom, she just makes me so angry sometimes. We just had lunch with his aunt, grandma, uncle and his wife and his mom just sits there and tells everyone how I only eat cheese and bread. I just want to shout NOOO i don't usually eat cheese for every meal. I want veggie burgers and tofu dogs and popcorn with nutritional yeast and soy cheese and macaroni and Amy's organic lasagna and fakin bacon and hummus and...
well..you get the picture. Who could guess that food would make me the most homesick? and people of course, i really miss friends to
talk too. I want to come home soon I need a break!

Last night I told Taka that Japan would be 90 percent better if Hummus was readily available. Taka has decided he is too fat topping the scales at a whopping 171 pounds. sheesh he's a whale....as if.

He made me walk all over creation last night in attempt at exercise. I have to say Japan is as hot or hotter than Florida in the summer. Its so humid you can suck it up with a straw. I'm watching Sumo wrestling because it makes me feel not as fat. and no I don't know . I am wanting to visit the US, but I have a sneaking suspicion he really doesn't want me to go so is taking his time. I hope he realizes I WILL NOT come back and live in this house. I
just cant. It's so dirty in here and they don't clean up after those dogs. Considering the rat dogs go poo or pee in the bathroom at will usually once a day. I have freaky thoughts of a layer of invisible dog filth on the floor so don't linger to dry my hair or myself off. ewwwww. Which comes to another thing, I hate those "dogs" so much. How could I, who is supposed to be such an animal lover, hate those 2 dogs so much? Especially the little gremlin one. I always push it when no one is looking. They bark constantly, barking even at each other. how stupid is that?
Oh well, what can you do?

Taka let me order a few articles of clothing from online a couple days ago. He's so funny, he sometimes gives me money for all these dumb reasons I guess so he doesn't feel like he s really giving me money. Like the other day he gave me $50. because he said he had too many $50.s in his wallet. Ya, right. I gave it back to him for the clothes though.

Japan made a bad move in my opinion, they voted to make the postal service go private. you know our mail is going to be messed up big time. plus now people can price gouge so we ll never know how much postage will be. its not the best idea I've ever heard. Right now Japan has the most amazing postal service. I cant believe they would do this.

Another issue bothering me is alcoholism, its rampant in Japan. There is a higher alcoholism
rate here than there is in the US. The thing that really disturbed me is that for fathers day the big thing was to take father and children to a cocktail class that taught the kids how to make cocktails for their fathers so they could have one waiting for them when they come home from work. All their business deals are made in hostess clubs where they drink like fishes almost every night. With the pressures from their crazy working hours alcohol is a release and a social activity. Taka has been drinking alot more since he got his job, he never has been much of a drinker, but the president of his company keeps making them go out for drinks after work once a week. They were looking for an English teacher for 5 hours a week at his work for $300. a week, I wanted to do it but he wouldn't let me. Hes so overprotective of me. It's not fair.

At least I can watch some samurai dramas on tv. That's always fun and there is a new vending machine next door with all the soda flavors you could want!

Children's Day

Taka on the Bridge
Originally uploaded by pointybunny.

Today we got Pizza Hut. I had the "Idaho Special" without bacon. We also rented movies. We got "Secret Window" We both figured out the plot to that one within 20 minutes, "The Village" we agreed it was long and kind of boring, and "Highwaymen" which I just loved but Taka wouldn't watch it.

Monday, Taka got called into work and after we got take out from a place called "The Skylark Inn" They had excellent french fries but their pizza was awful. It had lots and lots of corn on it and that was pretty much it.

Tuesday we had the big trip to Costco. I love going to Costco. There are actually white people there! wheeee. We managed to find some cereal, all they had was Kellogs "Corn Frosties" but they are just like Frosted flakes. Got some great mystery books too called "The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency" Here's a bit of Japanese trivia for you, Japanese homes don't have ovens. Yes, its true. No ovens. They usually just have a toaster oven. They cant cook a whole pizza or a big tray of cookies.

Wednesday we called "Romantic Day" where we just spent time doing stuff together we like to do. We went to see the "Koi No Buri" which are these giant fish kites that are all over town, especially near the river, they fly them to symbolize good health for the family for the
rest of the year, the big fish are the parents and the little fish
symbolize the children. The higher you fly your Koi no buri the
better luck you will have. They are really beautiful, I love seeing
them all over. They symbolize Children's Day:



More About Children's Day!

It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness.

It was originally called Tango no Sekku (端午の節句), which may originally be the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival (端午節). Sekku means a season's festival (there are now five Sekku per year). This one marks the beginning of summer or the rainy season. Tango has a double meaning: Tan means "edge" or "first" and go means "noon." In Japanese go also means five (五), which could refer to the date of the festival: the fifth day of the fifth month. From the beginning of history, the fifth month of the Chinese calendar was said to be a month for purification, and many rites that were said to drive away evil spirits were performed this month.

Although it is not known precisely when this day started to be celebrated, it was probably during the reign of the Empress Suiko (593–628 A.D.). In Japan, Tango no Sekku was assigned to the fifth day of the fifth month after the Nara period.

Until recently, Tango no Sekku was known as Boys' Day (also known as Feast of Banners) while Girls' Day (Hinamatsuri) was celebrated on March 3. In 1948, the government decreed this day to be a national holiday to celebrate the happiness of all children and to express gratitude toward mothers. It was renamed Kodomo no hi. There is some disgruntlement that, despite its renaming, it is still Boys' Day and it is inappropriate that Boys' Day is a national holiday, while Girls' Day is not.[citation needed]

Before this day, families raise the carp-shaped Koinobori flags, one for each boy (or child), display a Kintarō doll usually riding on a large carp, and the traditional Japanese military helmet, Kabuto. Kintarō and the kabuto are symbols of a strong and healthy boy.

Kintarō (金太郎) is the childhood name of Sakata no Kintoki who was a hero in the Heian period, a subordinate samurai of Minamoto no Raikou, having been famous for his strength when he was a child. It is said that Kintarō rode a bear, instead of a horse, and played with animals in the mountains when he was a young boy.

Mochi rice cakes wrapped in kashiwa oak leaves — kashiwa-mochi and chimaki — are traditionally served on this day.

~quoted from Wikipedia

Afterwards we went to the Sega Arcade (for us that is
romantic) we played this game where you put metal disks in a type of
slot machine representing "Super Mario Bros." and we ended up winning the jackpot of 750 metal disks. Don't really know what the point of winning metal disks are, but its still fun to win at something.

Later we went to his friend's house which is the smallest apartment
you have ever seen in your life! His friend, his wife and their 2 children (3 years old and 8 weeks old) all live in this tiny 1 room apartment. I was flabbergasted, but Taka says that's the way most Japanese families live. The 3 year old is awesome. We took his
"Magirangers" figures apart and drove toy trains over them. Nothing
like teaching kids mass murder. "Magirangers" are fun, they are the
original "PowerRangers" but they are better and they sing and dance.
I wake up every Sunday early and watch them
Their baby hated me and screamed every time he looked at me. We went to an "Italian" restaurant chain called "sazeriya" where we ate the WORST spaghetti we ever had! For some reason known only to the Japanese they put Tabasco sauce on all their Italian food. And their sauce is that kind of wierd orange color like when you buy fake
spaghetti o's. There was another Japanese man/white lady couple there and we all stared at each other allot. They put us at tables right
next to each other like we had to have our own section for foreigners.

I spent the weekend babysitting Yoshiko. Saturday we went
to a pond near the house and there were boys there catching some kind of crayfish in it. Tried to take a walk in the woods but Yoshiko
flipped out. Her mother tells me she is deathly afraid of the woods
because of "Snow White" We also got to go to my special Sushi restaurant where the owner makes me awesome vegetarian dishes custom made to my tastes. I might ask him to teach me how to cook. Hes the best chef Ive ever met. If anyone comes to visit, we are definitely eating there.

Tonight we went to the exact opposite of the Awesome restaurant. Everything there is terrible and greasy and makes me
ill. The owner there just yells at me because he doesn't want to make
vegetarian food. Fine with me, heh. I cant say anything though
because the owners are friends of the PILs. It was Takas parents, His mothers 3 friends, one of the friends daughter and fiance and the
friends husband. Also I ate a baked potato with a coffee spoon. They don't have any forks.

Back from the Beyond

Tokyo Tower
Originally uploaded by pointybunny.

I was away for awhile. Had to travel between the US and Japan back in November and sort of lost track of my story here. Now I am back and will make sure to get this all updated! I know everyone misses these wacky stories and informative topics. Here to tease you is a photo I took of the Tokyo Tower just this past December.