Blueberry picking and family night

My posts are probably getting a little less interesting now. I find less and less new about Japan everyday. I do have to share that I learned a few important life/travel lessons this trip. First, you actually can eat sooo much that you *break your stomach* as they say in Japanese. I’m secretly taking Imodium to keep going as they stuff delicious food into my face. Yesterday I learned to make seki-han in the rice cooker, this morning I ate cucumbers with miso that my J-mom made by hand, and for lunch she’s teaching me to make dango. I can’t miss an opportunity, so I’m secretly medicating when she’s not looking. If she knew she’d immediately stop all of the fun and dote on me til I’m better. There’s time for that when I get home! With only a few days left in my favorite country, I’m just going to gaman for now.

Dinner feast with my aunt and uncle

Second, if you don’t use a language, you lose it. For real. I’m rusty and my brain hurts– both from speaking really, really slow and easy English and trying to carry on conversations in Japanese. I keep flipping vowels in my words, which as you know makes it a different word, and I keep dropping syllables from things– which generally makes it unintelligible. Everyone’s been reall nice and accommodating about it, but I still have to wonder why my brain decides it doesn’t need the middle section of a word any more. Not *egaki* but *ehagaki*.

Also, my obsession with recycling and reducing household waste does not make me unusual, it makes me Japanese ;) All the garbage is separated here, which I knew already, but also because they lost a nuclear reactor during the huge earthquake, they’re conserving energy. What that means for me is that it’s 35 degrees C outside, and there’s no airconditioning in the house. Sticky.

Jizo with blueberries at the orchard

I’m reminded every day that 1 week is simply not long enough to see everyone I need to, so I’m sort of avoiding people so I don’t hurt their feelings by not adding them to my visiting rounds. I’ve also learned that while I was worried that everyone would comment on how fat I’d gotten, most of them gained weight too, so it’s been no problem. On the contrary, they just keep stuffing me full of food and asking when I’ll get married and bring a new baby to Japan for them to play with. Tomorrow I’m off to Hakone for a little mountain-side R&R and maybe a bit of onsen. Now, though, I’m being beckoned because its time to make dumplings! Yum.