No, Really, I Am an American

I went to pick up my parents at KIX yesterday after helping poor Rob bring his stuff over to Matt’s. I feel bad for kicking him out for a spell, but I had told my parents they could stay with me long before I knew I’d have a roommate again, so it was one of the unavoidable things. Unfortunately for me, I got sucked back into Matt’s Puzzle Quest for a spell; thus making me late going to OCAT to catch the bus.

Lucky for me, my parents took a while to get through immigration. When I spotted my mom, I actually ran up to hug her and my dad as opposed to last year where I stood there like a moron for a spell. It’s weird. You’d have thought it was a full year since I’d seen them last instead of five months. I know, I know; it can be a different thing when there’s an ocean involved, but I gotta say, I don’t remember hugging when I came home from school.

We ended up eating unagi domburi from this place on Namba Walk; and then it was to my house. They kept asking me questions about the place and stuff that were better answered once they saw the place. I also explained to them that there are boxes everywhere because of Rob’s potential moving in and just the fact that some things were left over from both Jacob and Darya when they lived here (random clothes, miscellaneous cooking things). As we walked toward Pandero (the bakery on the corner of my street), I mentioned knowing the neighborhood watch, the folks formerly known as the parking guys, and that I always walk home along the main street. When we turned down the darker street, I told them that there were mostly families and old ladies living around there. Strangely enough, it seemed unnecessary because they weren’t brining up their usual “be careful” stuff as I had expected.

When they came in, at first, it seemed like they weren’t overly impressed. But I think they were mostly just jet-lagged and really only cared about sleeping. They didn’t say anything about the fact that people have to walk through my room to get to the other room, or about the weirdness of the bathroom. Actually, I think they were just reminded of the Philippines.

They were pretty tired, but my dad wanted to hit the supermarket for breakfast groceries. Meanwhile, my mom cleaned up a bit. I was astonished at this. To be honest, I wasn’t overly surprised that she decided to clean — I was more stunned with the fact that she didn’t chastise me about anything regarding the cleaning process. Weird.

They were asleep by 10:00 (again, just like last year). I was still wide awake and contemplated going out with Matt and Rob to the 280…but decided against it as my dad had given me a weird look when I mentioned going to see friends after they went to sleep.

Of course, both my mom and dad were up at like 5:00 AM. I heard them, but didn’t deign to rouse completely as I am a big fan of sleep. And ‘cuz I’m a big jerk, obviously. They apparently made breakfast, and my mom took it upon herself to rearrange the cabinet and the food shelves. In fact, by the time I was mobile, she was cleaning the bathroom and the shower. And side note - I went to Costco last Friday and bought this stuff called Kaboom for the shower and it SOOO worked! It was freaking amazing! Anyway, back to the cleaning bit — I was again surprised with the lack of admonishment. She said she was bored, so she decided to clean. So a mom thing to do.

We ended up going to Kyoto again, only this year it didn’t rain on us. I think Kyoto and I have made our peace. We went to Kiyomizu, one of the candidates for a New 7 Wonders. Strangely enough, perhaps the best part of this excursion was the fact that I saw real maiko for the first time. I was reluctant to take their pictures ‘cuz I’m sure they get sick of that, but it was still amazing to see them.

The infamous terrace was pretty shiny, but I think the place would be more amazing in Fall during the Changing Leaf season. I plan on going back then to see the valley in its red splendor.

I thought maybe we’d go somewhere else, but it turns out my parents’s ability to hike about isn’t what it used to be and we ended up eating at a “mom and pop” type cafe and heading back to the house in Shoji.

Oh. Bits of random conversation throughout the day: I had asked my parents to bring me stuff, as usual. One of the items was quite girly and my mom laughed and explained how my dad was the one to buy them for me. I was amused as well, but then my mom was like, “He doesn’t mind. He’ll do anything for you.”

That threw me a little. She had also told me on the bus ride that it was my dad who really wanted to come see me. I wondered vaguely if I really was a daddy’s girl.

Also, my mom mentioned that she thought I lived in a “cute house” — in fact, she even said she could probably live in a house like this, minus the boxes of course. They also seemed ok with the idea of Rob moving in. I was certain they’d disapprove, but they didn’t really say anything. Except that I should move into the bigger room. But that was about it.

Weird much? My parents aren’t giving me a hard time about anything really. I’m mildly perplexed by this.

Oh. And completely off-topic — I caught a cold. Naturally, right before my parents visit. Anyway, my nose is all mad at me and I never realized how much I like Puffs.