Tuesday
We spent all day Tuesday trying to figure out the visa forms for our trip to the embassy the next day. We planned to spend an hour or two on them, but they literally took us all day. At one point I got so worried that we were proceding incorrectly that I posted some questions to a visa services message board.Fortunately, we kind of figured it out and felt rather confident that we had proceeded correctly. This day long process also tested our nerves a bit as we almost had a small spat. One of the things I love about her is that she is not obsessed with belittling her man at every opportunity to indicate the superiority of the female. She doesn't have those western hang-ups. She's actually genuinely interested in communicating and solving problems.
This is such a relief. She actually felt guilty for being cross with me, and agreed that she needed to learn more patience with me and I needed to take her suggestions more seriously in the future. We agree on that, talked it through, and made up on the spot. The rest of the day was fantastic, ...no lingering bad feelings, no over reactions, no mental score sheet where our faults and arguments are ranked.
That night we met her mother, step father, and sister's family for dinner at a small restaurant nearby. I don't know the proper name for this type of restaurant, but it's where you go into a small private room with your dinner party and prepare the meal yourself on a hibachi located in the center of the table. The table itself was only about a foot off of the ground, meaning I had to sit Indian-style to eat. Of course, my legs haven't bent that way since I was in grade school, so I had to sit side-saddle instead and shift every 2 minutes.
Her step father told me I have a nose like Mount Fuji, which was a compliment. I have a big nose, even by American standards. So, it is really big to the Japanese, ...but I guess it is not ugly to them. They are curious about it, and apparently think it is a nice, bold feature. The wife has already told me she hopes the baby has my nose, and I've already told that I hope it has hers.
More sukiaki was in store for me, ...more endless glasses of beer, more raw whitefish and tuna. My favorite was a marinated "young yellowtail" served in a small salad. It was just one piece of sashimi under a tuft of green leaves dripping in a gorgeous marinade, ...wow, that was great. They also tossed me heathy portions of scallops, oysters, and shrimp.
The shrimp was huge and unshorn. It still had it's head, eyes, antennae, legs, shell, and innards. The shrimp was just taken whole and boiled or lightly pan fried. It was good, but the shrimp in the US seems a lot juicier to me. The Japanese shrimp I had was bigger, but dryer.
The whole evening seemed to be about her step father. More accurately, it was about her step father honoring me, and by extension, my wife. He requested I make a small speech, which I did, mumbling something about how happy I was to be there and to meet everyone and that I hope we can do this a lot in the future. The wife translated. The mother and sister gave us baby gifts, including Japanese/English books and CDs for the baby, and a Winnie the Pooh play mat. The mother also gave us a huge bouquet of flowers whose color and type were selected to honor our marriage and family.
The step father was still hungry after all that, and insisted we go to another restaurant where we could have Unagi, or eel. I learned not to say "no" to my foreign hosts, so I said agreed. Off to similar restaurant with similar rooms and similar tables. We had grilled Unagi, grilled chicken on skewers and cooked in some sort of vinnegar, and snails.
The snail was the most interesting. I didn't know if I would actually eat it, but I did. It was served in a cup still in the shell. A toothpick was stuck through the foot of the snail, allowing me to pull it out of the shell. Two bites and it was gone. It actually tasted good, ...with the consistancy of chicken, and a taste that is not all that different from chicken, yet different somehow.
I was served a very good beer at this second restaurant. I think it was called Suntory Malt. It was the smoothest beer I've ever had.
Fully stuffed and more than slightly tips, we called it a night. I went to bed first as she went to take a hot bath. I was asleep before she joined me.
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