Well, I thought it was going to be a good day. They left slightly after the time they'd told me to be ready, around 10:30 or so. I did laundry and took more pictures of the shrine. It lights up and has moving parts. I was scared to mess with any of that, though. I ate some more of my micro meals that I couldn't bear to eat cold: macaroni and cheese (which was truly horrible) and chili. Unfortunately, I wasn't alone very long. They showed back up a few minutes ago and host dad immediately plopped down in front of yet another inane variety show and host mom went to work slicing an onion. They tried to give me even more food even though I'd told them I already ate. I ate a little bit of a tiny container of chocolate ice cream. It tasted like a Wendy's frosty but didn't liquify immediately the way a frosty does. While she was unpacking the food they brought, she unwrapped two chunks of dry ice. Then she picked them up with her bare hands. A couple of seconds later, she threw them down with an exclamation of "cold!" and put her hands in warm water. Um, didn't she know they were colder than normal ice? They turned out to be for the "cooler". Those things don't really work all that well.
Had they actually told me where they were going or how long they'd be gone or any other useful information, I'd probably have gone with them. I still don't know what the hell they did, but it's been pouring rain all day so they must have wanted to do it bad. Another reason I didn't go was because it could have been another park golf situation, which I found to be horrifying.
Weekends are absolutely the worst. Time seems to stop. On weekdays, I've got things to do to keep my mind occupied, but weekends are really depressing. Let's see...how many are left? Only 4. That's an improvement. There are 5 weeks of school left, but only 4 weekends, thank god. I never imagined I'd be looking forward to Mondays. Each Monday means I'm a week closer to going home.
I used to actively hate daylight savings time, but now, I'm thinking it's not so bad. It keeps the sun from waking you up at 4am and makes you have more light in the evening. First time I saw a sunrise at 3:30am, I was really confused and nervous. I thought something had gone wrong and I'd slept all day or something. Or that my clock had stopped and I'd missed the plane to Hakodate.
Everyone seems to be resting. Host mom is napping in the bedroom and host dad fell asleep at the tv.
I do not understand the garbage situation in this house at all. They have trash cans everywhere which are perpetually full, they keep food waste around for days in bags in a bin in the kitchen, and a trash can that I thought was for trash hasn't had anything put in it since I came here. In Japanese toilet rooms, there is usually a tiny trash can, about 6x6x6 inches.
Today, I counted the clocks in the living room. I saw 6, with the variation in time being as great as 20 minutes.
I've already had my bath and said goodnight. Today wasn't very good for a number of reasons. I spent a crappy afternoon in my room while everyone else was resting. I tried several times to make myself study and finally managed to do some. I was seized by a fit of depression and homesickness at some point during the long afternoon, so I wasn't very good company at dinner, which was just host mom and Hiroshi. They must have sensed that I wasn't feeling very good and managed to get me talking. I don't talk as much as I should, but they never understand what I'm trying to say when I do, so I don't initiate conversation very often. Sure, I can say basic stuff, but I can't understand what they say in reply. They've finally started talking slowly to me. I think they were expecting someone with better communication skills.
In my ramblings, I hope I haven't made it sound like they don't take good care of me, because they are trying as best they can. I've also heard of far worse families to be stuck with. The problem is that my communication skills are horrible and they know no English, save for the handful of words Hiroshi learned in high school, so there is absolutely no buffer to facilitate conversation. It makes me depressed.
Something happened to host dad's back yesterday and he has been hobbling around grunting and lying flat on the floor. I didn't expect my going to bed would bother anyone tonight. They all seem pretty weary.
Today while I was poking around the shrine room, I saw the box my bed came in. It was called "tatami bed" and had a rolled up mat in the box which I wasn't given. It feels like sleeping on a table with blankets thrown over it. It looks like they bought it just for my visit. As well as two new pairs of slippers which really hurt my feet because the part where your foot goes is all rubbery nubs. I wonder what else they bought just for me? Besides a yukata. I wonder if I get to take it home? I would certainly understand if she wanted to keep it. It was expensive. And I don't want this comforter she bought. I expect she has other plans for it. At least I hope so.
The cat with the bad attitude got in my room last night and wouldn't come out. It hid under my bed for hours and then got into the closet immediately after I opened the door. It climbed all over the stuff on the bottom shelves, and then got all over the bed linens that were stacked up on a higher shelf. I couldn't get the damn thing to come out for anything. I tried shooing it out with a paper fan (there are lots of those here) but it would scurry to the back and hide. I finally got it out of the closet and it went back under my bed. Sometime during the night it came out and waited by the door to be let out. This morning I found where it had shit under the bed. I haven't seen it at all today. I hope it is dead.
They don't use pillowcases here. They have small towels which they put over their pillow. Surprisingly, the towel stays put while you are sleeping. And I don't know what they use for bathing. They don't appear to have washcloths in Japan. My stupid little carrot bunny washcloth seems to be intended for wiping off sweat. They are sold flat in plastic bags. I didn't know until I saw some being used at the picnic yesterday.
I've been observing the way they eat and cook. Host dad just turns the plate up and gobbles by using the chopsticks to scoop food as he slurps. Host mom is a bit more delicate. She prepares each bite of food by placing various food items in a pile which she picks up with her chopsticks. Which brings me to slurping. I knew that they slurp noodles before I came here and it makes sense. But real Japanese people slurp every single thing they eat. I don't get it. How does it help to slurp solid foods? It seems dangerous to me. A choking hazard. I can't do it. Actually, I'm not interested in trying. It really grosses me out when they slurp stuff covered in mayonnaise.