En

Well, usually after dinner we all just sit around the table and continue the discussions we started during dinner. Well, this past Thursday we got on the subject of Japanese religion. My “parents” were telling us that they were going to go to my “dad” ‘s parents’ graves because their spirits apparently come to earth for a week, I think. So my “dad” started talking about Japanese religion and how people really follow both Buddhism and Shintoism.

At any rate the conversation came to a word called “en” in Japanese. It has a sort of abstract meaning. My “parents” were explaining it to my “sister” who is MUCH better at Japanese than I am. I guess they noticed me scratching my head because they tried to simplify it a bit. They typed it in to their electronic dictionary and it said “relation, connection.” And the example it had was “strange are the ties that bind people.”

Then my “mom” began to explain that I did not choose the family that I’m staying with now when I applied for a homestay. Haru-chan also didn’t choose this particular family. And it was not my intention, for lack of a better word, to meet Haru-chan. I met everybody through, I suppose, a force other than myself. And that, basically, is “en.”

Oh, and Haru-chan had made authentic Chinese food for dinner that night. One of the dishes was made of sliced potatoes and was really quite good. We also had the staple white rice as well as spring rolls. She had also made this egg and tomato thing that reminded me so much of breakfast tacos. I should find out how to make tortillas here…