Today I managed to wake up at 5:00 a.m. to call Kuniko in Japan. It was around nine p.m. there on Sunday, and she was just getting home. I was pretty tired on the phone, and she sounded pretty good after being wired running around work.
We talked for about half an hour, and then I went back to sleep – I didn’t wake up until around 10:30 in the morning. We had a nice breakfast and then organized a trip to Concord. My folks wanted to go there to do some paperwork relating to their new kitchen, and I wanted to do a little shopping.
The shopping turned out pretty well, actually. I picked up a nice pair of flipflops, three pairs of socks, and a cheap pair of sunglasses. Just walking around the mall was interesting – American people are interesting to watch. Nobody pays much attention to me here, and I can understand what people are saying while they are walking along.
After Concord we drove back, and in Napa we stopped in at In-N-Out Burger to satisfy my burger craving.
I really enjoyed digging into a proper hamburger, and then we headed back home.
In the eveing I went over to Victor and Lisa’s, and I got to see their son Alexander again. He’s a lot bigger, and really cute with light hair and a great smile. He was walking around organizing his toys, and he was fun to talk to. He just stared back at my like I was a total lunatic, which probably isn’t too far from the truth.
We went out to Mary’s Pizza and had a big meal – it was delicious. The place was decorated to look like the first Mary’s Pizza shack – interesting decor. We caught up about all kinds of things – and afterwards we went back to their place where I wore down everyone’s patience by looking at pictures from my first year in Japan.
Upon leaving they awarded me with an entire case of Guinness – what a lucky guy. Lisa still gets cool fringe benefits at her company, and this time it worked out for me. How lucky! Now I’ve got to find a way to drink all this beer. Big issues to deal with around here.
