Meet the Parents

They came. They saw. They tried the food. They liked some of it. They
still don't like raw fish. Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, my
parents came to visit me in Japan. And not just my parents - my two
little sisters, Kerri (24) and Cara (16) both came as well, along with
Cara's boyfriend Matt. Thankfully I had enough room in my house for
everyone, but it made quite a change to suddenly be living with five
other people after living on my own for so long. Little things started
mattering. Like not having a lock on the toilet door. I really, really
need to buy a lock for that door.

Anyway, it was great having the family here, and I think they really
enjoyed themselves too. They seemed to like the things we did in Fukui
the best - although they enjoyed Tokyo and Kyoto, the big cities were
just a bit too crowded and hectic. Funnily enough, I'm starting to
agree with them - I think I'm beginning to get settled into my country
ways. Even though I'd consider myself a city boy at heart (I lived in
London before I moved here) I was finding myself getting rattled by
all the noise and craziness in Akihabara and Shibuya. As we walked by
yet another garish electronics store blaring out J-pop mixed with
screams of discount slogans I found that all I wanted was a nice cup
of tea and a sit down.

Luckily, if there's one thing my parents are good at, it's drinking
tea (and sitting down, natch). Between the six of us we managed to get
through a scary amount of India's finest in ten glorious,
caffeine-soaked days. Luckily, the folks left me with ample supplies
of PG Tips and Twinings - approximately 320 bags - which we worked out
will just about last me till Christmas if I cut my tea intake to two
cups a day. Hurrah!

Unfortunately, it all had to end sooner or later, and all too soon I
found myself standing behind the ticket barriers, waving goodbye as
they all boarded the train back to Tokyo, then home. So it's goodbye
for another six months at least, presuming I book tickets to go and
visit them at Christmas, which I will do.

I need the tea for starters.