Long time no see, dear readers. I apologize for the lack of updates, but I have been exceedingly busy and, hey, this ain’t Twitter (see also: patience is a virtue).

Two weekends ago, I went to Okayama (岡山）, a prefecture in the countryside, and did a three-day homestay in Asakuchi (浅口）. To be perfectly honest, when I heard we were being forced to spend three days in what sounded like the middle of nowhere sounded mildly hellacious. They were robbing us of a weekend, I tell you! My host family even asked “どうして岡山に行く？” (Why are you going to Okayama, of all places?). Filled with dread, I plopped myself down on the bus and fell asleep for ninety percent of the five-hour trip.

The view from the front door of my homestay

Thankfully, my fears were entirely unfounded and it wound up being one of the best weekends I’ve had yet. Upon arrival, we were ushered into the town hall where we met with the town mayor and other relatively important public servants. Not only that, but we were also on Japanese television! Sure it was public access, but that’s a resume builder, I tell you what.

My host mother and I at the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge

My host family were three strong — mother, father, and college-aged son Yuuji — and hellbent on feeding me until I burst. This is truly the land of 食べ放題 (literally, “as much as you can eat”). Over the course of the three days, I ate such delicacies as tempura (ain’t no tempura like homemade tempura, America), kabocha soup, fresh, local crab and homemade chocolate cake.

The Honshu-Shikoku Bridge

My お母さん (host mother) and I went to the Honshū-Shikoku Bridge, a marvel of engineering and one of the longest bridges in Japan, which connects the islands of Honshū and Shikoku. Here’s a map, for your reference.  Afterwards, we went to a local town and dined on the freshest octopus (たこ) I’ve ever had. Those lemon-tinged tentacled treats still haunt my taste buds.

Delicious and as-of-yet-uncooked tako ("octopus")

Look at that and tell me it doesn’t look delicious. Okay, uncooked, it’s mildly terrifying, but still — it was tasty.

Other highlights from the trip include:

• Going to Tenmondai, Tokyo University’s astronomical research center, and looking at various telescopes and watching a hilariously dated show at the planetarium.
  

  View from the Tenmondai Astronomical Observatory

• Riding a crab boat with my host father and his swarthy, but hilarious friend
  

  My host father atop his friend's crab pots.

• Digging up (read: stealing) local sweet potatoes with my host mother while walking their overly-energetic dog Nene-chan
  

  Ah, nothing brings people together like stealing produce.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and I am looking forward to seeing them again when they come to visit their daughter who lives in Kyoto. At the very least, I’ll eat like a king when they come.

OTHER NEWS:

Classes are going well, I believe. Japanese Pop Culture continues to be relevant to my eventual thesis and usually interesting despite the occasionally inanities spewed forth by some of the resident otaku in our midst. My Japanese History Through Film course may win the award for “Best Midterm Ever,” as we are to go to either the Jidai Matsuri or the Hi Matsuri, two enormous and extremely rad-looking festivals then write a short paper about our experiences.  One word — “totally awesome.”

For my Japanese class, we are required to do a “community internship,” a murkily defined project which will culminate with us interacting with Japanese people. Somehow, I managed to swing it so that my “internship” is to join a student group on campus. As such, I will be starting practice this week with the LED Basketball Circle, a student basketball team. Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the SPACE JAM.

Anything else? Probably, but I should probably resume studying so I can tear down this [language barrier]!

Oops, wrong language.