So I survived the trip down to Hamamatsu to visit Hiroshi's parents for New Year. I arrived late on the 30th. On the 31st MIL (mother in law) and I went shopping for food to make New Year dishes. Obaa-san (older women) in Japan are notorious for being pushy and fanatical when it comes to bargains and MIL is no exception. First off we pulled into the parking lot which was worse than the mall in North America at noon on the 24th December. Then I was pushed, shoved and jostled without one 'sumimasen' (excuse me). I was shocked - I have never experienced rude Japanese before.

Anyway, MIL was going crazy over the discounts. Actually there were some really good ones. We got eggs for 30 cents (carton of 10), blocks of tofu for 20 cents, and a whole salmon for ten bucks. Then we also had to inspect everything to find the best looking one - I swear we spent 15 minutes searching for pretty spinach!

We finally made it to the checkout when MIL decided that she wanted to do another run thru. My job was to wait by the checkout area while she shopped more.... fine with me. She said she needed to get two more things... and came back with a whole basket! Then she needed something else. But midway thru that mission she saw a friend of hers whom she literally dragged over to meet me. Off she went and came back with things that had been marked down more than what we had bought. That third trip thru saved about ten bucks!

All in all it was kinda fun. I was really worried cuz this was just me and MIL - Hiroshi was at home cleaning. I was really worried about communication! But other than something about the salmon that I still don't understand everything was fine.

On New Year's Eve we ended up watching some Japanese singing show and commenting on how well different people were singing traditional (enka) songs. Now I actually like enka - I'm probably about the only gaijin (foreigner) that does. So we spent New Years Eve watching tv instead of cooking... I was under the impression you weren't supposed to cook at all on New Year's Day which is why there is a whole set of dishes for it. Oh well. My suggestion to go and view the first sunrise of the year which is totally Japanese was booed down too. Geesh! Wimps. All whining about being too cold and too early to get up. I even suggested watching it on tv (all the tv channels show it) but no one wanted to get up. Party poopers. Had to drag Hiroshi over for the traditional kiss at the strike of midnight - he was all embarrassed that his mom might see.

On New Years we just hung around. Didn't do much. Didn't even do any cooking until almost midnight LOL. We made kinton which is chestnuts in sweet potato paste. It is actually really good. Also made bean kinton - which uses beans only (no sweet potato or chestnuts). That was good too. And we made purple potatos!

Purple potatos (murasaki imo) are dark purple inside. Very cool! MIL said you can only get them twice a year too. We cooked and mashed and sweetened them, and then added some gelatin. I'm like, ewwww, purple goo. Little did I know that this was just an ingredient! The next day we used cheese cloth to shape the purple goo around chestnuts so that they were cute little purple balls with sweet chestnut in the middle. They are really good! And the colour is awesome! I'm going to make some for my class of older women and will take pics of the process and put them in my blog sometime next week.

Anyway we didn't end up eating our o-sechi ryori (New Year food) until the 2nd. After we had a breakfast of lots of traditional foods we headed off to visit BIL's (brother in law) grave. We washed it and put some plant (like branches with leaves - I don't know the name) in the vases. Then prayed. After that we came back home for dinner and then left again for me to come home. Hiroshi comes back tomorrow.

So it was a good visit. MIL is getting into some elderly habits though. She's keeping food ... which is fine except that it is old and not refridgerated. She'll leave meat out (cooked) overnight. She has things sitting on the table for days. Doesn't want to throw anything out. The potatos burned when we were cooking them - we tried to throw out the ones that were stuck on the bottom but she refused. Its pretty bad. Hiroshi was trying to get her to tidy up and put things away but she was being obstinate and didn't see anything wrong. I don't understand how a woman who can spend 15 minutes finding perfect spinach refuses to throw out nasty burnt potato. *shrug* Other things too like using a cutting board on the corner of the sink/edge of the counter with extra knives sitting nearby (cuz there is day old food all over the counter) which means events like flying knives happen. Scary. She's got a smaller car but still has trouble driving especially at night. I told Hiroshi to talk to his sister to keep a watch - it isn't safe. We veered into oncoming traffic twice in a period of three days.

Anyway, Hiroshi is quite depressed. His dad called him aside and told him he wouldn't live much longer. Apparently there is a problem with his lung. That means he's the only one left (meaning the only male and therefore the head of the family). He's a bit upset about that... and that his mom is declining. He doesn't want to accept their mortality I think. However, FIL will be 72 this year and MIL 70 so statistically their time will come soon.

On a more upbeat note - Hiroshi has decided he hates his house... now that he spent a week cleaning it LOL Our small apartment is definitely a lot easier! He's suggested getting a maid for when we finally get a house - great idea if he pays for it!