New Friends

We have had a chance to get together with two new families over the past two weeks. The first was a Japanese family, the Kuriokas. Bryce works with him at work and they have three kids similar in ages to our children. They invited us to their home for dinner and we also went to a Music Box museum. We arrived and visited for a while. They lived in the US for an assignment several years ago and so both he and she spoke very good English which was a blessing because my Japanese is still in dire need of help. Anyways, their children did not speak English but it was amazing to watch the children still be able to play and interact with one another and overcome that language barrier. We headed to the Music Box Museum. They lived at the base of Rokko Mountain and we had to travel up to the top of the mountain to get there. We didn't know but the museum was due to close in 45 minutes and it takes 15-20 minutes to get up there. We were following their family and driving quite fast UP HAIRPIN TURNS!! After about 5 minutes, I asked Bryce if we could slow down a bit. He said that we would lose them so he couldn't. So up we plowed, turn after turn after turn. Pretty soon, I am starting to look a little green and I roll down the window for fresh air. By the time we arrived, I was ready to kiss the pavement from joy of being out of that car. They apologized profusely but we were just trying to get there in time. Unfortunately, Japan is not like Indiana in that if you arrive at a place before it closes, they will still allow you to visit things for a while. In Japan, if it is closed, it is closed. They still charged us full admission to be there for 20 minutes. That was sad but we still enjoyed the music boxes we saw. It was a neat place. Then we had to head back down the mountain however, I was still not recovered from the first experience. Thankfully we went MUCH slower and we made it back to their house for a wonderful Japanese (but graciously very recognizable) meal. We ate like piggies and enjoyed getting to know them better. A great family!

This past weekend, we had an Indian family, Naru, Preeti and Simar (I can't remember their last name?) They are in the process of moving to Japan from India but Bryce knows him from work. They are a delightful family and we really got along well. Simar is just a few months younger than Isaac but a playful boy and got along well with both Brynn and Isaac. We enjoyed hearing about India and found out that it is not unusual to have servants that will drive you and do the cleaning and laundry. All I have to say is, why aren't we in India? :0) Then, on Tuesday (Bryce's day off...it was a national holiday...Fall Equinox....who doesn't celebrate fall equinox?) we went to a place called Harborland. They had lots of shops, restaurants and amusement rides for the kids to go on. We had a great time and now found our favorite Japan restaurant....it is Brazilian! They had an all you can eat buffet of salads and side dishes and then the best part was that these men would walk around with meat on these skewers....pot roast, steak, prime rib, chicken, ribs, on and on and bring it to your table...ALL YOU CAN EAT!! The only mistake made was that Bryce ate ONLY meat that night and not anything to balance it so he was good friends with the bottle of Rolaids that evening. It was so yummy and we enjoyed the food and the company of Naru and his family immensely.