Today is New Year’s Day in Japan, a holiday akin to Christmas in the States. It’s a big deal – the biggest holiday of the year, and usually everything is closed and deserted as families stay home to celebrate the day together.
Apparently over time more and more stores have stayed open on New Year’s Day, as families that stay home tend to get on each other’s nerves – now there are a lot of people that go shopping. Ito Yokado was open today, and it was packed. Kuniko and I could see all the cars going in and out from my apartment window.
Kuniko’s folks had invited me over for the day to celebrate a traditional Japanese New Year. We went over in the afternoon, and I am happy to report that I was a lot less nervous than the last time I was over to visit. Kuniko’s sister was there, and I got a chance to deliver lots of goodies to Kuniko’s mom. She was excited to get so many things from America, so I hope they enjoy trying them. I gave her dad one of my big bags of peanuts that I received from Nancy and Lynn, and that was a homerun. Peanuts are available here, but they aren’t cheap, and the ones in the shell are pretty hard to find.
We started by eating “osechiryori”, an old-fashioned type of food that was originally created to last for a long time. The idea was that people shouldn’t be cooking and working on New Year’s Day, so they prepared “osechiryori” to last through the holidays. We had four big trays full of different kinds of food. They were like the elaborate bento boxes that I’m used to getting at work occasionally, but the food varieties were a lot different. Everything I tried was delicious, and I could identify the stuff I didn’t want to eat very easily. No surprise flavors!
I got a chance to speak more with the family, but I can’t believe how wimpy I am when it comes to trying out new Japanese that I have learned. There comes a time where you have to just lay it out and see what happens, but I don’t think that time is with your future in-laws. I stuck to the safe stuff, and I feel like I could understand more of what everyone was saying. Overall I think I did a little better than last time, but I’m a far cry from full-on conversation.
We ate all day long – I’m still stuffed. We had takoyaki, cake, rice, pineapple, snacks, it just kept coming. I wanted to be polite and try everything they offered, so I ate a lot.
At one point we got in the car to drive to their property in the countryside. They have a medium-sized garden out there. Lots and lots of vegetables, and I enjoyed getting a tour. Radishes, carrots, onions, lots of stuff growing. I got to see how they grow shitake mushrooms, and they were even growing hot peppers. Kuniko’s dad was nice enough to give me a whole bunch of shitake mushrooms, a handful of Chinese red peppers, a head of lettuce, and a head of cabbage.
Finally after eating some cake that Kuniko’s sister had made, I decided to hit the road. I didn’t get out of there without a tray of takoyaki, a box of cookies, a bag of oranges, a bag of kiwis, 4 packages of wakame (seaweed), and a dozen bananas. I have more fresh food in my house than I’ve ever had – maybe that’s ever been in here. Combined with all the food I bought the other day in case Ito Yokado closed, well, there’s a ton of food here. And the clock is ticking.
I’ve got an idea to maybe make up some smoothies with all the fruit, especially the bananas and kiwis. The oranges I’ll eat pretty quickly, and the rest I’ll just have to gradually work in to the next few meals and hope for the best.
Kuniko’s folks were really nice, and I felt a lot more comfortable around them. Both of her parents seemed more relaxed, and that might be because they both spent some time in the hospital recently, and that can sometimes change your perspective a little. Her father especially seemed downright jovial, and I really enjoyed talking to him.
After Kuniko dropped me off I came inside and put all the supplies away. I was getting set up to do some studying, but it has finally become a big pain to set up. I usually study either in front of my computer at my “dinner table” or in the living room. The bad news about the “dinner table” is that it is easy to get distracted by the internet or e-mail or the website or something. The bad news about the living room is that it’s too cold, and it’s really not comfortable to sit on the cushions for a long period of time.
I decided then and there to do whatever I had to do to create a comfortable study area. I walked out the door and across the street to Ito Yokado, and found a kotatsu on sale for 10,000 yen.
What’s a kotatsu? It’s really just a regular table, with a heating element built into the bottom. It’s surrounded by an apron, and you sit at the table with the bottom part of your body inside the heated apron. My idea is to use that as my study space, and set it up in my bedroom.
I was walking through Ito Yokado just to do some research on prices, and most of the cheap kotatsu were around 17,000 yen or so ($160). This one was an advertised special, while supplies last kind of thing. They only had the display left, but it was in great shape so I picked it up.
Three employees helped me with my questions, and they showed me all the options I had. One broke down the kotatsu and wrapped each piece in bubble wrap, and then pieced everything together and presented it to me. Another walked me through the different choices in aprons, and even used quite a bit of English. I also bought a really comfortable chair that sits on the ground and tucks underneath the kotatsu.
I carried everything home and set it up, and it seems really comfortable. I ended up not buying an apron tonight since they didn’t have one that grabbed me. I’ll pick one up later on.
I’m off to bed now – it was a long day. Later in the week Kuniko and I are taking a trip with one of her co-workers to Tottori to eat lots of crab at a hotel that may or may not be buried in snow right now.
