9/15/08
Ishida House, Matsudo

After breakfast we watched some TV. It was a broadcast of a play/musical, starring mostly kids that looked less than 12 years old. They were pretty good, it would be nice to be that talented.

We went to a huge park near a lake, the second biggest body of water in Japan. There was a roller-slide that looked almost a hundred meters long, a huge play structure shaped like a zeppelin (apparently a zeppelin stopped by here about 70 years ago), a nature center, a water system powered by a windmill, and lots of grass. We did a lot of hacky-sack and other stuff, really tired ourselves out.

The car ride home took a bit longer, we didn't use the expressway and there was plenty of traffic. I learned the word for "traffic," conderu. It sounds quite similar to the Japanese pronunciation of my name.

9/14/08
Naoto's Parent's House, Tsukuba, Ibaraki-ken

Today (well, tonight really) is a holiday in Japan, called Otsukimi (お月見, nice easy kanji). Something about a giant rabbit making mochi on the moon, and a moon princess visiting earth.

After lunch we all hopped in the car for a road trip. On the way out of Matsudo, we stopped at the UniQlo and visited Yukiko. She was surprised to see me, and we didn't hang around for very long, as she seemed sorta busy. Still, it was nice to see her again.

Driving north from Chiba-ken to Ibaraki-ken was a bit different from the Tokyo cityscape I've been experiencing the last few weeks. Lots of green trees, there was even a portion of highway that reminded me a little of the Sacramento causeway bridge.

Naota's parents live in a relatively quiet little corner of Tsukuba, with a nice big yard/driveway. Today is his mom's birthday, and a lot of the family came over to visit. His uncle is a soba-maker, and he taught Yuto and I how to make soba. Lotsa fun, glad I didn't screw up. Aside from making soba, he was eager to exercise his English skills and taught me about moon-rabbits (among other things).

Naota's parents gave me some nice presents, including a set of those really nice hand-towels. Thank you!