Now revising for finals starts. Can't seem to catch a break. Shit...
In other news, I'm once again joining my dad in the annual Turkey Trot 5K run on Thanksgiving this morning. And once again, I decided it would be a good idea to start training the week before the race. As this indicates, the solo attempt at the Hard Body Plan without my workout friends has been less than successful. Tomorrow morning will not be pleasant. Probably should put a pillow down to catch me when I inevitably fall out of bed after trying to stand on my useless legs. I must say though, today I ran with my iPod for the first time, and it is really quite revolutionary. Listened to the tail end of a broadcast of "This American Life," as well as some Arcade Fire. For those of you not familiar with "This American Life," I highly recommend you subscribe. It's really quite fascinating. This week's episode was about the Great Depression, and some of the stories were very moving. So this is why all those damn latté sipping, arugula eating, EAST COAST LIBERAL ELITES listen to public radio. It's interesting...
Anyways, I've had a recent email correspondence with a Japanese friend of mine, a woman who I stayed with for two nights on our Concert Band tour to Japan and China. Keep in mind, this happened nearly 4 years ago, but yet this woman (Chie) still loves to keep in touch with my friend Benjamin and myself. She teaches English at a local school. During our 36 hour stay with her and her family, we got to know them pretty well, and seemingly connected on a much deeper level than did many of our musical cohorts. The two of us made fast friends with her little boy Keito and had quite a few laughs with saké swilling Grandpa at dinner. Honest to God, the dude downed an orange juice carton full of saké in probably an hour and a half, all while talking about WWII and nuclear bombs. In Japanese. Once we finally figured out what the hell he was talking about, both of us felt just a little bit awkward.
Needless to say, those were probably the most fun times I had on the tour, speaking for myself only. Chie and Keito took us to an ancient samurai castle, a beautiful Japanese garden, and a shopping mall so I could purchase a horrendously overpriced Japanese baseball jersey with an idiot look on my face. We also explored around their house with Keito. And of course, we had more adventures in Japanese cuisine. If I remember, that was the night we dipped the raw meat and tofu into the raw egg, washed down with a Kirin.
See look, it really happened!
Look at that beautiful head of hair and the sweet pajamas! Some things never change. Still have the pajamas, still have that stunning Hawaiian shirt. The beautiful head of hair...
It's just somewhat amazing to me, that a singular interaction that lasted barely 36 hours over 3 years ago has continued to stay so vibrant. That with a click of a button, I can talk to a person worlds apart, both in time, space, and culture. Chie sent me some photos last week of her class Halloween party. She was excited that I was going to law school, hoped I enjoyed it. And every time she writes, she talks about how much they miss Benjamin and myself, and how eager they are to have us back in Kumamoto. Sorry, that's just pretty frekking sweet. There are people halfway around the world that I barely got to know who are inviting me to come hang out, 3 years after the fact. Fairly intense.
Chie, Hidekazu, Keito, Erin, Grandma, Grandpa, this blog post is hereby dedicated to you. Kumpai.
Grandpa, I still use those chopsticks you carved. And that decorative gourd thing you made is in my room. That was a much cooler gift than my Minnesota photo book and Benjamin's chocolate. Don't you hate being upstaged? Life's a bitch sometimes.
1 comment:
I'll drink to the head of hair! Thanks, that is a good way to thank people who have made us feel like family. When you are are rich you can take us to visit Chie. Kompi, B
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