Before I can share a 'story' of our trip with you, I will not use the dates to protect our privacy but I will use "Day 1", "Day 2" and on. Note: I want to let you know that I will not post the pictures for the time being since it will take a while for me to look though the pictures to scan then post. I also need Nas' approval for these pictures however I will post the general pictures (cities, etc) soon. Please be bear with me for a while. Thanks!
Day 1: We arrived at Orange Country (in California) Airport and hopped into the airplane. We left at approx 7am. btw, we spent hours and hours of walking on that week before got on that airplane so that's the way we can be much less restless. There isn't much to talk about that day beside talking & sleeping/napping all the way plus numbers of nature calls however we made a stop at San Francisco International Airport first before went oversea to Japan.
Day 2: We were still on airplane until approx 1pm, we arrived at Tokyo International Airport. When I got out, I can smell the different air beside gas, engine fumes and numbers of burps from other passengers due to horrible airplane foods, you know how it is. Honestly, I feel so lost because of japanese logos, signs, advertises, it is everywhere. I got numbers of stares from japaneses as well, I guess it was due to my skin or my 'backward' American clothes, either way, it was noticeable. I felt the 'clammy' in my hands and my heart raced like a bunny's, for some reason, I felt bit scared but with Nas as a native of Japan, her presence assured me somehow. Nas was very exciting about her homeland and giggled then hugged & kissed me few times before we picked up our bags. We found three of Nas' relatives waiting for us on the bench. Nas ran off to them and hugged them, I stood uncertain what to do next... I mean, I don't know if I should bow or extend my right arm to shake the hands or what. Good thing that they made the first move by bowing to me and I returned it back, one point for me. Our introduction went nicely and perfectly (thank goodness).
We got in one of Nas' relative's Honda Accord Sedan LX V-6 car (I'm a huge fan of Honda Accord cars) and I noticed that there was several street names in English when we were driving to Nas' relative's house so I asked Nas about it. She explained that some main streets are in English for the tourists even though she suggested that we, Americans, as tourists (first-timer) should not driving around in Tokyo anyway. It somehow reminds me of the situation I had in Boston, Massachusetts trip... Of course, in Japan, people were driving on the left side instead of right side. My own opinion... traffic in Tokyo was far worse than NYC but less "shouting" or certain vulgar languages. Nas and I both agreed that she don't need to interpret what Nas and her relatives chatted in the car because I wanted to see everything in Tokyo while in driving and Nas don't need the stress at that time. The drive was great despite the bumpy ride and bad traffic. Oh yeah, here's Tokyo map and Japan map for you to get a look at.
It took approx 2 hours to get there (Nas' aunt's place) and my goodness, their house was very beautiful. I wish I can post and show you their house but I cannot however I want to show you other pictures. Here it is:
Nas' aunt/uncle owns several acres and house in that area near Mountain Tsukuba (northeast of Tokyo City and southwest [rough] of Tsukuba Science City, well-known and famous city). Here's map.
it is not Nas' aunt/uncle's house but similar however that house is a farm house.
Again, it is not Nas' aunt/uncle's house. That house is a japanese modern house in Mountain Tsukuba area.
Ibid.
Before we got into their house, we took our shoes off and put it on the "tatami" (straw) mat then I was stunned by their beautiful and traditional japanese cultural furnitures, accessories, and stuffs (I later found out that Nas' aunt/uncle are traditionalists). Nas and I are pooped by long trip and sat on the couch in Nas' aunt/uncle's living room and talked (Nas interpreted, there was a topic about her interpreting, you can check it out at this topic: link) for almost one hour then I fell asleep. When dinnertime came up, Nas woke me up and I got myself ready for eating the dinner. It was delicious dinner ever I ate! It was "chahan". Here's picture:
Sorry about small size, that's only one I can find though the google that match what I ate. I am not going to take a shot of what they made for me while they were eating the dinner
btw, politeness is very valuable manner in Japan. Anyway, "chahan" is a fried rice mixed with negi (japanese leek), egg, peas, several pieces of carrot and pork.
While we were eating, we had numbers of interesting topics to discuss about. It was about "sohei" (monk warriors) then "yamabushi" (mountain warriors) then "otogizoshi" (Medieval era) and finally, America. Anyway, Nas' aunt suddenly made a face then smiled at me which made me puzzled and Nas told me that her aunt had a small surprise for me but it had to be wait until Nas' uncle arrived (in two days later). After that, Nas and her aunt offered me a tour around the house then outside, small farm, garden pond with a small bridge to feed the fishes, small archery gallery, and other few things. In fact, I was surprised about the way they approached me or how they treated me. It was japanese culture to consider deaf people as "inferior" or "shame" but they hadn't at all. Of course, it does not mean that all of them have that kind of attitude but I just found it surprised that they hadn't. I asked Nas about it and she said her relatives/family is different from other japanese people. Beside that, Nas already informed them that I am deaf as well (she also told me that she personally will chew their heads off if they treat me any less than her) The tour took almost two hours and Nas & I was ready to hit the sack. Nas' aunt showed us the guest room (actually, it is hardly "guest" room, it is more likely 'our' bedroom because of TV with a cable, DVD player, video games, list on and on). We hastily unpacked our clothes and wore our pajama then fell asleep in no time. Oh yeah, we slept on the futon (traditional Japanese bed). [add] Once I slept on it and I loved it! I actually bought the futon and bed frame for it few days and it will deliever to my place in next week, I cannot wait! [/add]
More in next post... I need a break however can anyone tell me which is the best for me to sum up or keep that way as what I did above? To make it easier for you to read. Thanks.
Day 1: We arrived at Orange Country (in California) Airport and hopped into the airplane. We left at approx 7am. btw, we spent hours and hours of walking on that week before got on that airplane so that's the way we can be much less restless. There isn't much to talk about that day beside talking & sleeping/napping all the way plus numbers of nature calls however we made a stop at San Francisco International Airport first before went oversea to Japan.
Day 2: We were still on airplane until approx 1pm, we arrived at Tokyo International Airport. When I got out, I can smell the different air beside gas, engine fumes and numbers of burps from other passengers due to horrible airplane foods, you know how it is. Honestly, I feel so lost because of japanese logos, signs, advertises, it is everywhere. I got numbers of stares from japaneses as well, I guess it was due to my skin or my 'backward' American clothes, either way, it was noticeable. I felt the 'clammy' in my hands and my heart raced like a bunny's, for some reason, I felt bit scared but with Nas as a native of Japan, her presence assured me somehow. Nas was very exciting about her homeland and giggled then hugged & kissed me few times before we picked up our bags. We found three of Nas' relatives waiting for us on the bench. Nas ran off to them and hugged them, I stood uncertain what to do next... I mean, I don't know if I should bow or extend my right arm to shake the hands or what. Good thing that they made the first move by bowing to me and I returned it back, one point for me. Our introduction went nicely and perfectly (thank goodness).
We got in one of Nas' relative's Honda Accord Sedan LX V-6 car (I'm a huge fan of Honda Accord cars) and I noticed that there was several street names in English when we were driving to Nas' relative's house so I asked Nas about it. She explained that some main streets are in English for the tourists even though she suggested that we, Americans, as tourists (first-timer) should not driving around in Tokyo anyway. It somehow reminds me of the situation I had in Boston, Massachusetts trip... Of course, in Japan, people were driving on the left side instead of right side. My own opinion... traffic in Tokyo was far worse than NYC but less "shouting" or certain vulgar languages. Nas and I both agreed that she don't need to interpret what Nas and her relatives chatted in the car because I wanted to see everything in Tokyo while in driving and Nas don't need the stress at that time. The drive was great despite the bumpy ride and bad traffic. Oh yeah, here's Tokyo map and Japan map for you to get a look at.
It took approx 2 hours to get there (Nas' aunt's place) and my goodness, their house was very beautiful. I wish I can post and show you their house but I cannot however I want to show you other pictures. Here it is:
Nas' aunt/uncle owns several acres and house in that area near Mountain Tsukuba (northeast of Tokyo City and southwest [rough] of Tsukuba Science City, well-known and famous city). Here's map.
it is not Nas' aunt/uncle's house but similar however that house is a farm house.
Again, it is not Nas' aunt/uncle's house. That house is a japanese modern house in Mountain Tsukuba area.
Ibid.
Before we got into their house, we took our shoes off and put it on the "tatami" (straw) mat then I was stunned by their beautiful and traditional japanese cultural furnitures, accessories, and stuffs (I later found out that Nas' aunt/uncle are traditionalists). Nas and I are pooped by long trip and sat on the couch in Nas' aunt/uncle's living room and talked (Nas interpreted, there was a topic about her interpreting, you can check it out at this topic: link) for almost one hour then I fell asleep. When dinnertime came up, Nas woke me up and I got myself ready for eating the dinner. It was delicious dinner ever I ate! It was "chahan". Here's picture:
Sorry about small size, that's only one I can find though the google that match what I ate. I am not going to take a shot of what they made for me while they were eating the dinner
btw, politeness is very valuable manner in Japan. Anyway, "chahan" is a fried rice mixed with negi (japanese leek), egg, peas, several pieces of carrot and pork.While we were eating, we had numbers of interesting topics to discuss about. It was about "sohei" (monk warriors) then "yamabushi" (mountain warriors) then "otogizoshi" (Medieval era) and finally, America. Anyway, Nas' aunt suddenly made a face then smiled at me which made me puzzled and Nas told me that her aunt had a small surprise for me but it had to be wait until Nas' uncle arrived (in two days later). After that, Nas and her aunt offered me a tour around the house then outside, small farm, garden pond with a small bridge to feed the fishes, small archery gallery, and other few things. In fact, I was surprised about the way they approached me or how they treated me. It was japanese culture to consider deaf people as "inferior" or "shame" but they hadn't at all. Of course, it does not mean that all of them have that kind of attitude but I just found it surprised that they hadn't. I asked Nas about it and she said her relatives/family is different from other japanese people. Beside that, Nas already informed them that I am deaf as well (she also told me that she personally will chew their heads off if they treat me any less than her
) The tour took almost two hours and Nas & I was ready to hit the sack. Nas' aunt showed us the guest room (actually, it is hardly "guest" room, it is more likely 'our' bedroom because of TV with a cable, DVD player, video games, list on and on). We hastily unpacked our clothes and wore our pajama then fell asleep in no time. Oh yeah, we slept on the futon (traditional Japanese bed). [add] Once I slept on it and I loved it! I actually bought the futon and bed frame for it few days and it will deliever to my place in next week, I cannot wait! [/add]More in next post... I need a break however can anyone tell me which is the best for me to sum up or keep that way as what I did above? To make it easier for you to read. Thanks.
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Thanks for comment! *nods*