Tanaka Family

Two weeks ago: "[Stay tuned for an exciting piece of text to accompany this photo!] "

Oder auch nicht. Okay so I'm an... inconsistent blogger. Should have seen that coming, no? Rather than try to play catch-up, though, I'm just going to start off where I am now. Well... maybe just this once:


The delightful young lady above is Misato Tanaka, my "Home Visit" partner. The small, distracted one in her arms is her niece, Airi. I spent a long-weekend/holiday with Misato's family recently. Misato, her parents, and her sister were all overwhelmingly welcoming. We did some sight-seeing in their hometown of Nara and took a day-trip that included an unexpectedly long (4 hours each way) drive. There was holiday traffic galore. The car was a great place to chat though.

After I tried, and probably failed, to explain American healthcare reform to Misato's father in Japanese (let's just say the conversation involved miming and me taking out my insurance card), her sister, Sayo, taught me Airi's favorite nursery rhyme. It's called "Zou-san" ("Mr. Elephant"). I've been practicing, which either hilarious or sad. I can't decide which! In an eerily perfect display of reciprocal cultural exchange, I taught them "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in return.

There was, of course, also some amazing Japanese cooking. We 20-somethings made dango, round, sweet balls made of rice flour and tofu among other things. Misato's mother made sukiyaki for dinner one night. Dear lord was it good. It's basically a bunch of vegetables cooked with strips of beef in a big pot. You pull the lovely little morsels out and dip them in egg before eating.

Here's hoping they invite me back!