Like the Prom

I have been spending a lot of time in Yamaguchi City recently. Friday Chris and I went with our Japanese mom, Watanabe-san to try and deal with our drivers licenses. We headed out around 10 am to Yamaguchi only to find out that we didn't need to be at the driving center until 2. Watanabe-san wanted to take her girls out to lunch and then shopping, you might as well take advantage of a day off. We went to the 100円 sushi restaurant and went to a few cool shops. We got to the driving center only to find out that it was just our preliminary screening. I got all nervous for no good reason. I should mention that only Americans need to take the driving test (because America makes foreigners take a test when they come to the US so Japan is retaliating and taking it out on me!). So needless to say, I have to go back on wednesday to take the actual test. What a pain in the neck. That night Chris and I went for Chinese food in Masuda. It was awful. We had sweet and sour pork type dish and the sauce was like the slime of natto. Yuck.

Saturday we headed back to Yamaguchi for the Yukata (summer kimono) party. We decided to go early and shop for a little bit then stop by a coffee shop. We went to Jenny's to get ready and dump our stuff. Earlier in the week Chris and I went to the Watanabe's to learn to tie our obi (the big belt thing) and that day Chris and I were the only ones who knew how to tie it. Japanese girls didn't even know how. I have to say, I was quite impressed with us. It reminded me of the days when I was on the drill team and I would spend the whole time french braiding hair before the big game. This time, I was tying obi. We went the La Francesca for dinner which was lovely. We were in the back garden, it was nice to eat outside. It reminded me of prom, everyone all dressed up, taking pictures and eating fancy food. Although at my prom their was no nomihoudai (all you can drink) so that was much better. Everyone looked really nice. Let me know if you want me to email you some pics... No funny stories from that part of the night because I think everyone was trying to be on their best behavior. After that we headed to karaoke. It was alright. There were a lot of people so I only got to sing one song (man in the mirror). A bunch of people left and went to another karaoke place (a lot those people being my favorites to party with- Selene, Paul, Tori etc...) so that was a bummer that we didn't get to hang out. But over all it was a good night.

The next day we awoke to more pouring rain. (The rainy season has come a month late, and in full force) Chris, Bren and I went for sushi and then to the movies. We saw Batman Begins and it was great. It was my first time going to the movies in Japan (it costs 1800 yen or $18!!). I do recommend seeing it. I think I would say that Batman is one of my favorite super heros because he is real. No fake super powers. Just strength and the help of movie technology!