Not India

We didn't get to go to India. It was very sad/shocking. There was a problem with Bret's visa, some of the infomation didn't match up, and the sympathetic staff of KIX airport told us it was a no go. They wouldn't even print our boarding passes. We had happily skipped up the the ticket counter and left with our spirits crushed.

But, we were already in Osaka, after over 14 hours of travel and waiting, so we went on the airport computers and at 100 yen per 10 minutes of internet use, furiously tried to find the best alternative possible. Thailand was the cheapest place, so off we went!

We're still determined to go to India, and it's actually going to be great because over Christmas break I have a ton of time off, so we'll have even more time to explore.

How to check if you're not in a first world county: Are there feral animals everywhere? If yes, you might be in we'renotatthestagewherewefixouranimalsville.

Literally, dogs everywhere you look. When we were at a remote countryside temple, I was trying to take pictures of these awesome roosters and 3 huge dogs started barking and running at me full speed. I was sort of thinking that was the end for me, and started yelling No! No! Nonono! and they luckily stopped their charge and let me pet them. hahaha. phew! Good thing I kept a cool head :)

Six days was plenty for Thailand. Plenty. We had a great time, but you can only eat so much, buy so many 50 cent tees, and go to the Safari park so much before they give you the "you guys again" looks. It was a great experience for a week, but I am not a "sit on the beach" person, so it was plenty of time for me to see everything I wanted to see.

*Random closing rant*

One of the things that really bugged me while we were there was haggling. I mean, there are shanty towns everywhere, people are working hard to get by, and you get these tourists haggling over the lamest stuff. Oh, you got that for 100 baht instead of 150 (4 dollars instead of 4.75)? Do you feel like a big man? Congratulations on being such a savvy consumer!

I was getting a massage (they are dirt cheap everywhere, like 6 dollars an hour sometimes) and overheard this guy asking how much it would be to get his entire upper body waxed. He was told it'd be 1,000 baht, which is like 36 dollars or something. He then argued about the price, trying to reduce it to 800 for about 10 minutes, while people all around are trying to relax. He kept saying, "no, that's too much, it's too much." UMMM NO THAT IS NOT TOO MUCH. We don't want to hear about your body hair problems, take a hike! First of all, no one wants to wax your upper body, weird indiscernible accent guy. Second, I don't want to listen to you being a miser. Thirdly, can you hear yourself? Do you literally have no shame? Ugh. You can/should barter/haggle/whatever when someone is trying to rip you off, or is clearly quoting a high starting "bid" but walking into an establishment with set prices clearly on display and arguing in front of a room of people is classless.The sad thing was the lady took his offer and told him to come back in 30 minutes.

*Rant over*

Bret Playing with Bengal Tigers

I wrangled them as well, they were super cute and awesome. Going to this park was a wonderful experience and I feel really lucky!

Our Landlord

He's basically the coolest old Japanese guy I've met. For an example, I was supposed to drive to this landmark by his house and then call him for the rest of the directions. Instead, he tells me to wait there and just shows up on this little (they are like BMX bikes but with small tires, they are super popular but are exhausting) bike with a mini flashlight tied to the front. And he's like, let's go! And I followed him to his house.

The first time I met this guy was my first viewing of the house. He had his sweat towel and big floppy hat, staples of Japanese old folk, and showed me around the house. He's got a funny limp, and he tells me his hobby is being a farmer. Anyway so he gives me this super confusing phone call the other night, telling me he's got some real cheap rice he'll sell to me. Something like, 8000 yen for 30 kilos. Which is a great deal actually, and I didn't want to be rude, so I was like alright you can come over tomorrow night. But then I called back and he was like, come over to my house. So I scoot out there after work, and i come in to his crazy home.

Basically, it's a half modern, half old SUPER traditional house. Its too old and well kept for words, full of all kinds of knicknacks,and an empty Japanese garden pond that is massive when compared with the original house. Attached to the back is a what looks like a small apartment building. So when we go to the kitchen, its basically a different building although from the inside I didn't notice.

Anyway they sat me down and started feeding me. It was like, 'am I here for dinner? no one else is eating, and they keep talking to me..' Their son was skyping from tokyo the whole time, like they didn't want to kick him off once I got over or maybe they just wanted him to try and speak english. He was of middling ability for the average Japanese citizen, but his parents basically don't speak and English and the mom doesn't know how to speak 'special japanese.' (speaking simply, like no jokes, puns, sayings, phrases, idioms, slang words, olde tyme slang words; speaking like to a four year old with a good vocabulary). Anywhoo, so it was pretty confusing in general. He didn't sell me any rice, he just told me about his family. Apparently his son inherited the house I rent from his great grandmother, and its actually his house and his mom is the manager.

Even though his son technically owns the house I deal with Shigenori (the old guy) exclusively. Kind of funny. They thought it was pretty hilarious that they have someone from Seattle living in the house of Watanabe. They gave me a massive bowl of curry rice with vegetables, two trays of pickled vegetables, two bowls of fruit, an entire fish (for those not living in Japan eating a fish means eating the meat and scales, while the whole skeleton/fins/head is attached. some people might think that's weird, right? I forget how we eat fish in America) and a bowl full of chicken livers. Honestly I would have been psyched and just eaten the whole time if I hadn't had a massive dinner like 3 hours before. And they kept talking to me, so it was kind of difficult to eat. Anyhow, he ended up giving me two dvds for the Niihama Taiko (drum) festival and invited me during any matsuri or new years to come over and make mochi with him.

I think his son said he was a Professor of Japanese History and Culture, which is probably why he has these 30 or so person mochi making sessions three times a year. Anyhow, when it was time to go he just rolled out on his bicycle with me to the highway. He has cars and scooters, he's well off, but he seems to prefer that bicycle.

They told me to come back soon and bring Angelina next time, haha.