The rents come to Nihon!

So it's been 7 months since I left England and throughout these months I have stumbled on the annoying habit of missing my parents... a lot. So what better way to remedy this than to have them both come out and visit me in Japan?!
Yay.
So on the 9th March, Mummy Dearest and Daddums made the 12 hour flight over to the land of the rising sun. However, they were clearly in no rush to see me as they decided to spend the first week of their holiday in Tokyo - crazy fools! Although I think this worked  out best for me as by the time they made the journey down to the island of Shikoku, and the cosy prefecture known as Tokushima, they were quite tuckered out and were in need of a bit of a rest from the hustle and bustle of the big city. So on the 16th March I speedily drove to my station to welcome the parents to my life in Japan. As they can both now vouch for, there isn't much to do/achieve/see in Tokushima, but luckily they had turned up just in time to witness the last performance of our musical (see previous post) so we managed to spend a rather warm day trailing the streets of Wakimachi before they could enjoy the stunning performance we had put on. As my rather eloquent father put "We've seen all of her other productions, of course we had to fly half way around the world to see this one!".

Outside my Junior High School

So after a quiet weekend of relaxing and taking stock, the rents soon left me again on Monday to go off to see the many wonders of Hiroshima, without me, whilst I went back to work. Sigh. However, the trip was not long and I managed to have them back at my side in just 3 short days. Thursday was probably the most 'real' part of their trip, especially in Tokushima, as I got to show them around my town and introduce them to a bit of my life here. For example, after getting off work in the afternoon, I proceeded to deliver my parents to my principal's office at my Junior High School, where we had a hairy, awkward moment where we didn't speak Japanese, my principal didn't speak English and we were trying to have a conversation. Luckily my JTE soon came in to relieve us and, at the same time, the tension and we began a conversation of sorts that led to a lot of information being shared that perhaps would not in normal circumstances. For example, I found out my principal is 59 and will retire next year which he is not looking forward to. Who would have guessed?!
Anyway, we then managed to give the rents a guided tour around the school (albeit with the extremely nosy Japanese teacher) which they thoroughly enjoyed as it was what my mum would describe as "Real Life".

After the school tour, saying our many goodbyes and bowing so many times that our backs might break, I decided that my parents deserved a break, and what better way to have a break in Japan than a Pachinko Parlour!! Actually, they wanted to go to experience this game but I don't think it was quite what they were expecting. Or at least, they didn't know what to expect so it was definitely a bit of a sensory overload when we walked into this loud, bright and smoky place. The pure confusion and bewilderment on my mother's face made it so worth the trip. Neither of them won anything (is there really a way to win at pachinko?) and once we had got back outside their actions told me all I needed to know. From the stunned silence I could hazard a guess that, yes they were glad that they experienced this, but no, they did not ever need to experience it again thank you very much!
Finally, the day ended with my eikaiwa (adult speaking class) which my parents were absolutely invited to. I couldn't be more proud of my eikaiwa and the entire evening of entertainment that they organised and put on. We had a traditional tea ceremony accompanied by a koto, we were serenaded by the class singing traditional Japanese songs, and we were (somewhat forced) given the opportunity to dance Awa Odori around the room for so long that I thought my arms were going to break! We were also given so many treats and sweets that I don't think my parents knew what to do with them. Overall though (apart from the odd stalker-like student trying to change my parent's plans so they could go round her house) it was a brilliant evening and one I don't think my parents will be able to forget in a while.

Making tea

Playing the koto

Getting into Awa Odori

Eikaiwa and parents

So that was pretty much all we had time for in Tokushima. I had work on Friday and left my parents to their own devices. Unfortunately the weather wasn't playing nice so after getting to the bottom of Mt. Bizan, they decided it wasn't worth going up as they wouldn't be able to see anything at the top. Instead they came back home and I got picked up from school by my dad at the end of the day. (how old am I?! 7??) That evening, we had been invited to my favourite eikaiwa students' cafe. They are the sweetest old couple going and she makes bloody good food. Unfortunately I had to leave my parents with the copious amount of food they had been given as I had to go to my staff party. However, they let me know afterwards that they had a really nice evening (despite a surprise appearance from the stalker student) and that it was one of the most enjoyable evenings they had had so far. (I think, I might have just made that up).

Golden Pavilion

Imperial Palace

Anyway, Saturday morning saw us up nice and early as the final stint of the holiday was a week in Kyoto. And what a week it was. I'm not going to go into great detail about exactly when, where, why and how for each of the things we went to see. But I will say that by the end of the week we were pretty much all templed out and were looking forward to not having to get up every morning to go and see yet another (however spectacular) shrine or temple. However, I will say that we definitely made the most of our time in Kyoto, seeing all the main temples and shrines and points of interest that we could. Trying out different places to eat and generally just enjoying each other's company. (especially me, as my parents company usually comes hand in hand with my parents' money! Oh the joys of being spoilt). A highlight of our trip was probably our day trip to Nara where we saw and absolutely massive Buddha, and got to witness the local wildlife (the Nara deer) out in full force. Plus it was a really nice sunny day which always helps everyone's mood. Another notable experience in Kyoto was when we went to the Gion Corner, a show that demonstrated many tradtional art forms and theatre from the Geisha culture among others. Here we got to see the works from tea ceremony to flower arranging, a kabuki play to traditional dancing. All in all it was a bit of a surreal evening, but well worth it in my opinion. I even laughed at the comedy that was performed, in spite of the fact (or maybe because of it) that I couldn't understand a word of what was going on.

It's the Nara deer!

Crazy torii temple

Flower Arranging

Traditional Dance

Comedy

Huge Buddha

Finally, we decided to spend our last night in a traditional Japanese style inn called a Ryokan. This entailed us having our own room with a large tatami mat area where we relaxed, ate and finally slept. Dinner was brought to our room course by course and we didn't have to move a muscle for the entire night. Once dinner was over, some of the staff came to lay out our futons for when we wanted to go to bed and that was it. Simple. Actually it was a shock to the system in the morning when we actually had to get up and leave our room to go to the restaurant downstairs for breakfast. So let me tell you a little more about our experience. Firstly, we were a bit overwhelmed. The staff were (almost overly) polite and straight away we had someone come into our room to make us green tea. Now we, being British, I think had a little trouble at first dealing with the fact that other people were actually in our hotel room - do they not understand the concept of privacy. However, we soon got over our wariness and started to enjoy being waited on hand and foot. We passed the hour or two waiting for dinner by playing some cards (a tradition in the Jenkinson household) but we were swiftly interrupted 10 minutes before dinner so that the table could be made up ready for it. We had the weirdest woman come to serve us that evening. She never said anything to us but sang to us instead - most bizarre. It was actually quite laughable but it helped relieve the tension a little bit as we were getting a bit stressed by just how much food kept appearing on our table. And we had done this properly. None of this western style dinner, or Japanese dinner that has been toned down for the foreigners. No, we had gone for the full-blown Japanese style dinner full with fried, grilled, broiled, steamed and any other types of cooked fish you could possibly imagine. After being fairly daunted at first, we followed my brave dad's lead and (at least I did) attempted to eat everything that was laid out in front of us. My dad was more successful than me and my (somewhat pathetic) mother, even managing to finish some of the foods that neither I nor my mum would touch. I was proud of myself for getting over the fear of eating a whole fish (though I did leave the head intact) and a couple of rather nice octopus tentacles (little sucker things and all) there were only a few things that I simply couldn't stomach, but I think that was to be expected. My main problem was that there was simply too much food and I was absolutely stuffed by the end of it! And breakfast was the same. Despite going back to our roots and ordering a continental breakfast, we were still overwhelmed with just how much food we were given. A fried egg, toast, buns, yogurt, fruit, salad, ham, pasta salad, it was never ending but totally delicious! Needless to say we left that final morning feeling rather full. All that was left to do was spend the last few hours together around the station, where we went up Kyoto Tower to get a good view of the entire city. Come three o'clock and it was time to say goodbye. No tears were shed but we kept it short and sweet which perhaps helped that. Then it was sayonara to the parents as they boarded the train back to Tokyo and I the bus back to Tokushima - both heading to our respective homes.

I had an absolutely brilliant time with my parents and it definitely made me realise just how much I love them, but also how much I love my new life and how much I am enjoying it out here. Even though I still miss my parents it was a nice feeling to think that their leaving was not the end of the world for me (no offence mother and father). I do however look forward to their next trip out here and can't wait to share more adventures with them as they discover more joys and experiences that Japan has to offer.

Until next time mummy and daddums, ja mate ne xx