Foundation Day

Yesterday was National Foundation Day, which meant no school for the teachers and kids. This holiday, we were told is similar to our Independence Day, except there are no fireworks and hot dog picnics. Just a day to remember the foundation of the nation!

As far as sleeping in goes, I didn't quite use the morning to my advantage because I still woke up at about the same time. We decided we make scrambled eggs and toast later but I was pretty hungry when I got up. We have limited breakfast supply, so I heated up a few pieces of frozen squash- something I had bought last week and we've never wanted to make it because, let's face it, how many people like squash on its own? I read for a while and then went for a nice long run outside.

Over the years, I have come to love running more and more. I like it because it is not only a physical exercise, but also a mental one too. It requires so much concentration to stay focus, to tell yourself to keep going just a bit farther and faster. I've been able to explore Inzai-Shi a bit from my runs. There's a lot of farm and country sides where we're staying, but then a main road with wide sidewalks is not too far either. Simple things like big sidewalks on main roads, I think, help promote Japan's healthy lifestyle. Bikers and walkers are seen much more. Families have one car, rather than 2 or 3.

Lori and I went to Gospel Choir practice when I got back from running. We thought we might not have practice today because of the holiday or if we did, it would be later in the afternoon. I had just enough time to shower, but not eat breakfast or drink much water so I felt a bit weak during practice. It was fun to sing again though. The woman next to me kindly wrote in the sounds for each character again and I have a couple lines from songs down now. The director is this tiny little woman who, like most women here, is very trendy and fashionable. When she talks, she gets a very excited expression on her face and you can tell she's very passionate about music and the words of the gospel songs we sing. I am almost happy that I can't understand what she's saying; I like to image that everything she says sweet and encouraging.

Lori, Mike and I decided to go to Big Hop Mall on our bikes to eat a later lunch. As soon as we got there however, I felt awful. My head hurt and I could tell I had little patience to be walking around a mall aimlessly. Rather than forcing Lori and Mike to put up with my crabbiness, I decided to bike back to the school on my own. When I got back, I attempted to do some homework for my online classes, but I ended up getting more annoyed so I decided to take a nap. Two hours later, I woke up feeling much better and made some soup mix my sister and Kevin gave me to bring, and finished my homework.

We had been invited to dinner at the house of a woman who works in the office of the school that night, so I'm glad I felt better and refreshed. Her daughter and three friends were coming along too. I was excited to see the inside of an actual house too. When we arrived, the daughter and her friends (I've been so awful with names, sorry!) were so welcoming and excited to talk to us about our experience. We've been spending most of our time with five year olds or older adults, so it was finally nice to be able to hang out with people our age.

The daughter and her friends were 25 years old and had gone to college in the U.S. to study abroad. The daughter and one pretty attractive male friend spoke English very well, so we could easily talk about their experience in the U.S and their first impressions of our country. They said they liked "doggie bags" at restaurants because we get huge portions and can take the leftovers home. The daughter had told us about her experience in a speech class when she first arrived and having to do an impromptu speech. She knew very little English at the time, so that must have been awful. Poor girl! They told us about places they had visited too; the guy friend had visited San Francisco and we could tell he had trouble describing it!

For dinner, the daughter prepared takoyaki, which means octopus balls. She prepared these in front of us. First she poured a pancake-like batter into a fryer that had little holders in it. Hard to describe, but picture an egg carton when it is flipped open. Next, she placed chopped octopus, a Japanese potato, pickled ginger and onions into the batter as it was cooking. After a couple minutes, she took a long toothpick and scooped the batter and mix-ins to flip the ball so the top could cook inside the holders of the fryer. She kept rotating the balls until they were cooked all the way through and took them out of the fryer and onto a plate. She then drizzled on okonomiyaki sauce (dark brown and kind of like teriaki), a mayonnaise dressing and fish shavings. They were delicious. I don't think that is a recipe that we can copy for our dinners at the school though :).

For dessert we had a large brownie and ice cream sundae that they daughter made at the restaurant she works at, Planet Hollywood. And lots of green tea too. We had so much fun talking and laughing with the daughter and her friends and hopefully we can meet up with them again sometime soon. We gave them gift we brought from home; I gave them bags of puppy chow, Mike gave chocolate covered pecans, and Lori gave Mackinaw Island fudge. They all loved chocolate- so the gifts went over well.