Dinner and a Movie
...written on 2001-01-04, @ 21:24:35
Tales of Kim's Life in Japan
Thu January 4, 2001
Yesterday we were invited to Hide's parents' house for dinner. Ivan came to my apt and we went shopping for a gift for the host and hostess. We bought a cake for Mrs. Sakamoto (tomorrow is her birthday) and we bought some beer for Mr. Sakamoto.
We had to take the train to Tarui. We stood at the ticket machines and tried to figure out how much to spend. Ivan said it was the first stop and should be the cheapest fare. It was $1.90. We looked at the clock and the 4:45 train was due to leave at that very instant, the next would be by in 15 minutes which would make us late. Oh well, we both knew that you could set your watch by Japanese trains and that we'd just have to be late.
We went down the escalator to the number 4 platform. The cold wind whipped us silly. Ivan said he had to go to the bathroom. While he was gone, I heard an announcement in Japanese. I picked out 3 words: "Maibara", "gomen", and "taihen". I had a feeling that another train for Tarui was coming (Maibara-is on the way to Tarui), that the 4:45 train was actually late (gomen=sorry) because of something (taihen=serious). I looked around for Ivan as I heard the incoming train clacking on the tracks. He stepped off the escalator just as the train pulled in. I told him to hustle and we jumped on and grabbed a strap. The doors closed and the train left immediately. We hoped we were on the right train and were relieved to see English scroll across the bulletin board proclaiming that the next stop was indeed Tarui.
We got off at the Tarui station and ran into Chad and his dad coming from another train from Nagoya. Perfect timing! Hide was waiting for us outside in his warm van.
We met Hide's parents at the door and they ushered us into a small room with a kotatsu with a grill and plates on top. Hide's dad piled beef, noodles, vegetables, brown sugar, soy sauce and sake into the grill and put the lid on. As that was cooking we ate chicken wings, pickled vegetables, boiled shrimp and almond crusted fish. I had a bottle of coke all to myself. When the beef dish was ready, we tore into that as well. It was delicious. Hide's mom didn't sit down to eat with us, but his dad did and he asked us a lot of questions.
After dinner, we went to Hide's house next door and watched "A Clear and Present Danger". Hide wanted to go to the movies to see "The Exorcist". I hadn't seen it since it originally came out in '73 and this would be my first time to see a movie in Japan, so I was psyched and so was Ivan. Chad and his Dad were going to crash as Chad's dad had jet lag.
After we dropped off Chad and his Dad at Chad's apartment, it started snowing. Big fluffy flakes came down and glistened in front of the headlights. We pulled into the mall parking lot, went in, got our tickets and had some time to kill, so we did a little shopping. I got some new red gloves to replace the black ones that I'd lost. Ivan got a new book bag.
We went back to the theatre which had 16 screens. The place was humongous! As we went up the escalator I saw the dome which was embedded with sparkly lights that every so often spewed out like falling stars. It was beautiful. We stopped to get popcorn and a drink and went to sit in the stadium theatre seating. The screen was huge as well and curved around. The images were overwhelming as was the sound.
I was so happy to be at the movies. I was really missing my friend Allen, from Dayton. On Mondays we'd always head out to see a movie, buy a lapful of snacks, make wisecracks during the show and then critique the movie to pieces later in a new Mexican restaurant we had discovered. Ivan made his comments during "The Exorcist", but it wasn't the same, so I kept quiet.
This was supposedly the director's cut of "The Exorcist". Ptthhffffbtt. They put in some hokey visual stuff, that for me, destroyed a lot of the subtle psychological tension of the original. I'm sure Allen would have agreed.
After the movie, I came home and read diaries. I stayed up until 4am. This has got to stop. I must live my own life and not get involved in the stories of the lives of others. I must learn Japanese. I must decrease my internet bill. To those ends, I have selected a few diaries of friends that I will keep up with, but I am going to start allowing myself one hour a day to read those and do any updating that I have to do. Pretty ambitious plans for the new year, neh?