Even though Kuniko had the day off, she had to sneak into work for about half an hour to take care of some things, so I had the run of her house for a couple of hours. I spent the time watching TV and trying to understand the spoken Japanese, and also reading some comic books that she had purchased.
The comics are semi-non-fiction based on the life of the author, a Japanese woman, who is married to a foreign man living together in Japan. The author, Oguri Saori, does a pretty good job of illustrating the tough parts of being a mixed couple in Japan, and applies a humorous touch to some tough situations.
When Kuniko came back we were both hungry, so we went to Shin-Osaka station to have some lunch. We sat at a small table in a restaurant, and from the moment we sat down people were staring at us. Kuniko and I were chatting in English, which is what we usually do in public because then people can’t understand us very well and it gives us some modicum of privacy. As we were talking, I looked to my right and a lady was staring at me like I was her long lost brother or something. I held her gaze for a while, but she just kept staring. I said “Hello!” in English, and she blinked, but kept staring. It was weird – even Kuniko thought it was out of the ordinary. Anyway, once the food showed up people stared even more, and so it was with a little relief that we got out of there and got on the train to Amagasaki.
What’s in Amagasaki? Costco! Kuniko had never been, and I thought I’d introduce her to this America shopping phenomenon. We walked the aisles, sampling snacks, admiring things, and buying nothing. By the time we left we both had seen things that we wanted, but we decided to pick them up next time. It was a fun experience though, especially to see it through Kuniko’s eyes.
It was plenty hot by then, so we headed back to Kuniko’s place to cool down with some shaved ice and plan our next move. We ended up deciding to have Oyako donburi, a rice dish with chicken (oya, 親, which means parent) and egg (ko, 子, which means child). We went shopping together for the groceries, and then went to rent a movie. We were looking to rent Spiderman, since we are probably going to go see Spiderman 2 soon. Unfortunately, they didn’t have it, so we settled on Kuniko’s favorite movie, Chocolat.
Kuniko cooked up a great meal and we sat down to watch the movie. I had never seen it before, and I was pleasantly surprised. Kuniko even had some chocolate laying around to eat while we watched – perfect. Even though I had school the next day I decided to stay another night in Osaka, since I don’t really have to be at work until late in the morning.
