Saturday morning we went out and bought some groceries, knowing that the refrigerator was due to be delivered that day. After breakfast we took off to do some shopping in Osaka – we had to get a rice cooker and an oven, too. I kind of followed Kuniko along while she shopped like crazy, comparing prices and choosing things based on specifications and charts that I couldn’t read. There were several places that were having “bargains”, filled with women digging through piles of clothes looking for that special deal.
At the huge Yodobashi Camera store we met one of Kuniko’s friends, Ai-chan. Kuniko said she was bringing me along, but didn’t mention that I was a foreigner, and Ai-chan couldn’t stop laughing/staring when she met us. Shock is probably not too strong of a word. After the initial amazement wore off she settled down and I was able to have a short conversation with her in Japanese. Later as she relaxed we switched to English, and she did pretty well. She seemed like a really nice person, just not ready for surprises like me.
We met another of Kuniko’s friends for coffee in the JR station at Umeda, and all three of them had a great big conversation in Japanese while I strained to understand even one sentence. It wasn’t easy. Both of her friends were curious, and it had been more than a year since they had seen Kuniko last. They had a lot of catching up to do, so I just relaxed, drank some coffee, and tried to catch what I could.
We said goodbye to her friends, and then Kuniko and I went back to the apartment just in time for the arrival of her new fridge and clotheswasher. Afterwards Kuniko cooked up some homemade gyoza (pot stickers). Sunday is a big day in Kyoto for some touristy stuff and also a concert.
