My "Mom" and "Dad"

So my “mom” ‘s name is the same as the emperor’s wife’s name. And looks-wise she kind of reminds me of Emma Thompson, the English actress. She’s so thin that sometimes I wonder how she’s not been carried away by the wind yet. But she’s really nice and she’s the one who shows me how to do stuff, like how to store the futon, or how to do my laundry. She also has a really good memory. Sometimes it’s hard to believe how much she can remember of what I’ve said in the past, but I guess I can’t really say anything all that complex yet. And she’s been buying some snack foods that she has heard me talk about like Pocky and mochi ice cream. She even bought me a bag of chocolate corn flake cereal the other day! She’s also a REALLY good cook.

She’s also been helping me out with the trash situation. Disposing of trash here in Japan is super complicated. There are three different bags that they use: combustible, plastic, and pretty much anything else. Luckily some of the stuff I’ve bought like water bottles and such have the little symbol for which bag you’re supposed to put it in. However, there are hardly any public trash cans! I think I saw one at the Fuchinobe station, and that’s the only one I’ve seen. Apparently people carry their trash around until they get home.

She also took me to City Hall the other day so that I could complete my alien registration. I’m glad she took me because I hardly understood any of what the lady behind the counter was saying. I was also able to sign up for the national Japanese health plan. It’s actually pretty nice. They pool everybody’s money and so it costs about $114 a year per person. And they cover up to 70% of medical costs. Hopefully I won’t need it, but at least I know I’ve got it. One of the exchange students has already had to go to the hospital! She fell down a couple of stairs and sprained her ankle. Luckily she’s alright, and she’s getting better everyday.

My “dad” is a real jokester. And he knows quite a few English nouns, so he likes to test them out on me. He also likes to ask my “sister” about Chinese words. Apparently he’s a huge golf fan and occasionally he goes out to the golf course to practice. He also likes to watch TV while we’re eating dinner, and Japanese TV is really rather strange. The other day, for instance, we were watching a game show during tea time that had had these really strange competitions. They had about nine guests on the show and the host was supposed to do funny things without talking and if any of the guests showed their teeth or laughed out loud they were out. It was so ridiculous. And sometime before that we were watching a show where the hosts and a guest were trying out different dishes and one of the dishes made steam or smoke or something come out of their mouths and noses. And I’ve also seen an American Idol type of show only it was for A capella groups.

And my “parents” apparently do a whole lot of traveling. In fact they went to Hawaii sometime this year during a giant hula festival and they’ve been showing me the commemorative DVD. They’ve also at least been to Paris, California, and Wyoming. No wonder they have so many knick knacks. Now that I’ve actually looked at them, most of them are from Hawaii.