check some photos out on facebook in my albums titled "i'm in the philippines" [ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2259001&id=11500924 ] and "mom in japan" [ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=11500924&aid=2269795 ] if you would like to see more of what i have been up to.
mom arrived on a wednesday evening in japan! it was so good to see her walk out of the arrival gate at the airport. we took the train into town and taxi from the main station to my litttllle apartment. i don't think mom was quite prepared for how small it really is. she had her first experience sleeping on my futon. it is *hard* but she was so tired, she slept and rested okay. on thursday, i worked and mom hung out. friday mom came to school with me. it was fun to have her meet everyone and see how my days are like here. i happened to have five lessons that day (i usually have 3, maybe 4) so we were tired at the end of the day.
i had mom come the dates she did to take advantage of a 5 day weekend. on saturday we travelled to osaka by shinkansen (bullet train) and it was awesome. we stayed at a ramada and wow! it was a lovely change from the apt. we felt like queens in a real bed and i even got to take a few baths where i could stretch my legs out! score.
we visited the tennoji temple and i took mom to my favorite store LOFT. she didn't really seem all too impressed but bought a few little things anyway. on monday we took a 30 min train ride to kyoto to see some more temples and shrines. we met a very nice japanese lady on the train who ended up sharing a taxi with us (refused to let us pay) and toured us through a shrine. she was there visiting graves of her grandparents. she spoke pretty darn good english and it was fun to felt taken under her wing for a bit. after she had to head to another grave, mom and i jumped on a bus to see a few more things. we got a japanese lunch and took the bus around the town to sightsee. the bus system was so easy and good to use. the people in kyoto were SUPER nice as well. for instance, when we got of the bus one time and started walking along, the driver honked at me and waved me directions to go the other way for sights. i nodded and followed him, but he waved me down a few more times to be sure i was getting it. he was really going out of his way to help us.
we didn't try too much japanese food mainly because menu reading is impossible but we did have some. in osaka we also treated ourselves to hard rock cafe and that was nice, especially for me! we returned to nagoya and spent some more time in my city. mom took my friends and i out to a nice dinner the night before she left. it was nice!
mom flew out yesterday and is home safe and sound now. it was so nice to have a visitor! i cannot wait until my winter vacation visit! counting down the days already! mom is gone but she left me some good treats from home (bagels, annies mac n cheese, chocolate covered raisins, whole wheat bread, candies, luna bars, peanut butter, my favorite red raspberry smuckers and even some tillamook cheese). i am set for a while! :)
