Fukuoka saikou

Damicci

Damicci

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ﾂ催?坂? :p

Yo, I made it safely. I'll try posting up a bit. Plan to go see alot of things this trip since last trip I spent getting to know the gf alot better. :)

Shower time!
 
窶｢ﾅｸ窶ｰﾂｪﾂ催?坂?
窶堙凪?堋ｭ窶堋ｨ窶堋ｩ窶堋ｳ窶堋｢窶堋ｱ窶堋､
Fukuoka saikou
Fukuoka (is) the best
:-)

Fukuoka is very good indeed. I went there last summer for two days. Nice town.. And much bigger than I expected!! 😌

I can imagine it is very much perfect when you're with your girlfriend you missed so much, Damicci!! Enjoy yourself!! 👍
 
hey neat, enjoy your stay and good luck! :)
 
Nice pics!! It looks like you went to some serious party.. 👍

Hope everything is well. I'm particulary curious to how you were received by your girlfriend's parents. :-)
 
So......
Well we had planned to meet the parents maybe the weekend before I return to America. Those plans came to a screeching halt when she got a mail from her mom saying they are coming to fukuoka because the grandmother is having pains in her eye. So I wake and she told me "My parents will come to Fukuoka." They live in Saga. I said ok why. And she tells me why then says"We will meet them today." "WHAT! what Are you serious?" I was so freaked out b/c I had no chance to practice anything I wanted to say. So we get cleaned up and get dressed. I am practicing my greeting b/c they will come to pick us up to go to lunch. Finally they get here and I wait in the apartment while she goes to get some bags from the car. When she returns she has this smile on her face that damn near makes me **** myself b/c I know exactly what it meant. Next person comes in is her sister. "Whew" I thought b/c I met her sister already. you know no big deal. Then in pops mom. "****!" They are all talking and I am thinking when do I greet her and introduce myself. I nod to mom as she completely enters the apartment. Then I introduced my self. She laughed a little bit which I hope was a good sign. Then asked me did I think the whole family was small. They are all about the same size. Rieko her sister and mom are the same height. I just said that they were small but I was too tall for Japan. She laughed again. Then continued into the apartment.
Mom was appeared to be alot kinder then when I saw her in the picture Rieko had showed me a while back. So I felt a little more at ease. I had brought presents for mom and dad, and a lil something they asked me to bring them for whitening thier teeth. I gave mom the gifts and she thanked me. I have to say mom was definately alot nicer than I thought. Then I noticed the condoms Rieko had stuck to her mirror in the apartment. "****!" I kept trying to think of a way to remove the condoms without mom noticing. So when she went to look at the bathroom, I swiped them from the mirror and threw them in my suitcase. Only to find out later that she already knew they were there. :(
So as we all prepare to head downstairs to the car mom tells me that dad is not very scary. I sigh and said that's good. I don't know if mom was amused by my Japanese or by my horrible Japanese. As we get out side I notice this 3 series BMW parked on the side of the road. I didn't dawn on me til I saw a figure which looked familiar to the father figure in the picture I mentioned before. Rieko told me her dad had a BMW but I had completely forgotten until now. A not so scary but not so cheery older man peer from behind the car then goes back to doing what ever it was he was doing in the trunk. As we approach the car some I went from walking behind everyone to about 10 feet ahead of them without even noticing. Before I knew I was standing face to face with dad himself. I introduced myself and he nodded and finished up in the trunk.
I'll continue on later.....
 
It seems like you're very tense there Damicci!! 😌 I think you coped fine with everything, and yeah it is hard to introduce oneself to your significant other's family.. Especially when there is such a (perceived) cultural/language gap. I think that as long as you're polite and thoughtful of what you do, there is nothing to worry about. :-)
 
Wow, sounds like quite an adventure. Good luck, and know that we're all cheering you on here!
 
So realizing dad didn't seem to want to talk too much. I didn't really want to force him so I just smile and waited to see if there was any thing I could help with. Looks like dad was just straightening up the trunk after having removed the bags that were taken to Rieko's apartment earlier. So everyone prepared to enter the car when mom tells me I should sit next to dad up front. "geh!" I thought but it would be a good chance to make small talk. So waited for mom to get in and closed the door for her when she was clear. Then I hopped in and we took off. 1st I was thinking dad was pissed cause he was driving like a bat out of hell. You could here the motor either asking for more or begging to stop. Mom asked me a few more question like how was my flight, and which airports didi I come through. All while dad fiddled with the Navigation system to Iron out the course to the restaraunt. I pretty much kept quiet the whole time while they talked to each other and only answered question when I was asked. After about 20 minutes of this we finally arrived at the restaraunt.

We get into the garage area and dad asks us to get while he parks the car so we get out and wait for him to park then head towards the restaraunt. This place is nice if I remember the name I'll reccomend to anyone. Waitresses were all dressed in kimonos and serving the patrons. Must be pretty hard to do in kimonos. While waiting I noticed an area where there some crap moving around in water. After carefull consideration I noticed it was squids. muttered "All cool squid" and they looked at with a "huh?" kind of look. "Uhm isn't that squid?" I asked and they agreed. Rieko sugegsted I take a picture. So I prepare to take a picture and mom began to pose. She was in the direction of the squid but didn't realize I was going to take a picture of the squid. Rieko told her to move so I could take a picture of the soon to be our dinner squid. Mom kinda looke dlike "aw" and stepped aside. I apologized and took the picture of the squid. Then as I turned around one jumped and made pretty loud splash and it startled me as I didn't know squid could jump. Dad kinda laughed and asked was this the first I had seen squid. I replied with yes, and mom immediately asked "Really? Do they not have squid in America?" I said "Yes, but they are normally already dead.". While they were laughing added "I just didn't know they could jump out of the water." luckily they seemed to be amused by my comments so the ice felt like it was breaking rather nicely. I guess it was time for one of them to be eaten as a guy came in with a styrofoam (spl?) box and neted one to put into the box. Dad mention pushing the guy into the water which I thought was funny.

We finally were able to get seated. We sat next to another group and I apologize to them as I didn't want to sit too close to Rieko so I ended almost bumping the guy next to me. Mom, Dad, and lil sis sat across from Rieko and I. Mom asked what I wanted to drink and I mentioned water. She said "really? you do not want a beer?". I laughed a bit and replied no water is fine. So when they bring the beer there 3 cups and dad doesn't drink neither does the sister. So who else could there be. Obviously mom likes to drink and loves it even more with company. Thats always a good thing since alcohol helps to loosen people up. They start bring out the food and as mom pours my beer. They bring out the Squid. Out of the corner of my I saw something move but didn't think about it. Then mom let's out a lil yelp and Rieko points out "It moved". I said "What moved" Rieko replies "The squid moved." Then proceeds to poke it with her chopstick and low and behold it moved and squirmed abit while ON OUR TABLE ON A PLATE! Yeah I felt a lil sickly after witnessing this event. So refrained from looking at till the took it away. This must have been very amusing for mom cause she laughed the whole time.

more later....need to get some sleep.
 
Wow. I can imagine it must be really nerve-racking! :o But it seems like you're making a good impression so far, Damicci! 👍 Good luck! ^^
 
Damn Damicci, sounds like you're having a "tough" time.. 😌 But I am pretty sure you will be able to laugh about all this in a while!! :-)
 
Oh, boy, Damicci! I'm enjoying your story!
Looks like what you thought was a mountain was actually a molehill... 😊

I KNEW moms are more understanding about their daughters' boyfriends. And Dad appears to understand the situation already!!

Even if the parents have qualms about their daughter leaving for the US, the friendly atmosphere suggests that they will get over it quicker than you expected!!

The squid incident is funny! I've never seen live squids kept in restaurant aquariums either--only fish and crustaceans! :D

Good luck!! 👍
 
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I loved the "normally already dead" comment. Sounds like so far, so good. I am curious how the father liked the barbershop photo.
 
Sorry for all the typos, I suck at story telling :p

While beginning to enjoy our meal, few things came on my plate that i didn't what they were. So when I asked Rieko what was what, she suggested I ask her mom. Not a bad idea except mom probably wouldn't break it down to me in layman's terms. I asked the mom what the sashimi was and she told me. I only recognized the hamachi b/c it is one of my favorites to order back in the states. The rest I normally did not order. The dish came various types of sashimi, a Egg like pudding that wasn't sweet by any means. It had bits of fish and chicken inside of it. Looked delicious but that was about it. Then there was the normal tenpura and some balls of something. One was a potatoe and the other I can't remember at this time. both not bad but due to the moving squid incident I was still feeling a lil ill. Not too mention we had been to a club the night before and they might as well had been using cigarettes for misting machines. the smell of smoke and the taste of alcohol sat pretty bad in my stomach. Still I did my best to not make on eof those horror parent meeting stories by throwing up on someone.

Mom continued to ask me question about cars. I guess she had a genuine interest in my hobbies. I told what my favorite car company was and which of the cars liked the most. She seemed pretty surprised at the length of knowledge I had regarding the models. Then asked what kind of car did I drive. I told her the cars except the us version of my one car "Nissan 240sx" was the same as the "Nissan 180sx" except the engine was not as cool as the japanese one. She laughed a bit and said I really like japanese cars. She asked why and I told her that japanese cars don't seem to break down as much. They all laughed and nodded in what seem to be an acknowledgement. Dad stepped out to have a smoke which was interesting b/c the whole time he was here, he kept moms glass filled. Mom was having no qualms about throwing them back either. So when dad took a smoke break she then realized that she basically drank both large bottle of Asahi Super Dry by herself. There was a lil bitl left in one bottle, maybe half a glass which she willingly offered to me. As nice as mom has been to me I gladly accepted. So at this Rieko has to use the bathroom which left me mom and sis at the table. This was felt odd b/c it was like the link be tween me and the family had left so now the lines of communication had dropped. So I asked her sister a few questions about her english and if she was still teaching and studying. Luckily for me it was long enough of a conversation that Rieko was able to return before we finished. So mom asked me did I go to college. And I did but never finished. Of she asked why and I simply told her that I went to a 2 yr college for my particalar field of interest. (Thanks epigene for the bunya explanation a while back) So We talked about me working for IBM and how was basically picked up from my previous employer. Due to all this talking I wasn't able to finish my food as fast as everyone else. So I hurried up and finished so we could all leave. Once finished we got to pay the bill and I offered to pay but I guess that would be rude since it was the parent's treat. So we paid and left out of the restaraunt.

Outside dad had disappeared. Thought he went to get the car but wasn't sure. Rieko wanted a picture so we took one infront of the restaraunt. Then dad returned with what appeared to be something he bought for mom. (Nice guy!) So we took another picture and headed home. This time I was determine to speak more so I noticed something about the car in front of us and asked dad about it. And from there we went into conversation about the subtle differences in cars between US and Japan. Did you stateside guys know the Cavalier here is badge under Toyota and not Cheverolet? Very strange. We returned home and talked a lil bit more bout what I wanted to see while I was here and where I went the first time I came to Fukuoka. Afterwards I thanked them for the day and we were invited to go shopping with them.

This is where another section begins.
 
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i'm following your story with great interest, keep it up buddy!
 
leonmarino said:
(I feel like I am in a Desha Otoko-esque drama :D )
Click to expand...

Hahahaha, I was about to mention that in my last response! 窶堙懌?堙ｩ窶堙??彭ﾅｽﾃ披?冕窶堙娯?堙ｦ窶堋､窶堙闇?'窶堋ｶ窶堋ｾ窶堙ｦ窶堙仰〜ﾂ！
 
Glenn said:
Hahahaha, I was about to mention that in my last response! 窶堙懌?堙ｩ窶堙??彭ﾅｽﾃ披?冕窶堙娯?堙ｦ窶堋､窶堙闇?'窶堋ｶ窶堋ｾ窶堙ｦ窶堙仰〜ﾂ！
Click to expand...
And, based on the TV series version, I'm the fat woman sitting in front of the PC with her hair in curlers and facial mask plastered all over her face... :D
 
Man so many typos.....:(

So we decided to go shopping with everyone. Not much to tell here except me and dad talked more about cars and the difference between american cars and japanese ones. I asked if american cars were very expensive in japan since they were all imported. He mentioned not much more but the main problem was they use alot more gasoline than japanese cars. I have noticed a few Japanese cars like honda that were left hand drive. I guess this was more for the cool factor than anything. Dad agreed and continued to drive on. We checked out a used goods shop. When we got there we did the usual, everyone hopped out while dad parked the car, but this time as soon as we got out everyone took off. I mentioned "Are not going to wait for dad?" And mom replied "It's okay, he is too slow anyway." I laughed but still continued to wait. Dad lit up another smoke as he exited the car and we all headed to the shop. He began to wait outside and I thought maybe I should wait with him and try to make small talk. Due to my weak skills in japanese I felt if he asked me a question I didn't understand it would leave a weird akwardness so I decided against waiting. Entering the store you could immediately see different things for sale and there was a counter which had various cards and tickets in it.Dad bought a ticket for something I wasn't sure what it was for, and rieko pointed out they had prepaid cards, I told her I needed a sim-card to use my phone and they did not sell those. So we all head up the stairs but me and dad took the stairs and everyone else the escalator. I mention the stairs were good for excercise. We looked around a bit nothing particular caught my eye except for the engagement style rings. I also mentioned how dad was rocking a rolex and they were pretty expensive watches in the US. But I only said this to Rieko. Mom bought a few things and we then soon headed back. We passed the marina which was packed with cars trying to get in, I asked if there was an event but they just mentioned since it was a nice day and Sunday that that was the reason everyone was headed there. Then I recognized the area and asked if this car parts store where me and Rieko had gone b4 was around. They immediately new what place I was talking about and asked if I wanted to go. I wasn't that interested but even though I said no, they insisted on taking me. So I was content with that. They talked abit about the location of the shop and after driving a while we arrived at a car shop but not the one we had mentioned.

Here we hopped out of the car and I asked did they sell parts here because it looked like a full service station only. Dad said he was sure of it and it shoul dbe on the second floor. Then asked what I wanted to buy. A friend of mine as japanese style headlights for his civic back home and you can only buy them here or on the internet. So immediately we headed up stairs and dad took me to the right spot. we looked around abit but I couldn't figure out what lights were for what. There wasn't a guide a round except for one that had HID (High Intensity Discharge) writen on it. This for those really bright purple-ish lights you see on newer cars. So I thought this can't be the right one. Dad picked it up and said that it should be ok. So we looked for the model number suggested and found out the bulbs were 75 bucks. Well I mentioned that my friend probably wouldn't pay me back if I bought them. So dad laughed and put the bulbs back. I asked about Some corner lamps fo rmy civic b/c the US ones are not as cool looking as the Japanese lamps. So dad asked a sales staff about the the bulbs. So I explained I wanted the whole housing and the staff mentioned that they wouldn't have anything like that there. I said "that's too bad." And so dad went on to ask the staff about some other things. Rieko and I walked around abit looking at various things and I explained to her want some parts were. I even saw a nice shiny new turbo I would have loved to buy but it was really expensive 20万円 probably. So I quickly put back and sulked a lil bit. I asked about the New/young driver badges b/c they are popular for import tuners in the states. And there has been quite some confusion about whether they meant inexperienced or just young. So I asked the dad what was what. And he explained that the yellow and green meant new driver but the yelloe and red was not meant for Advanced drivers but older drivers as in age. I forgot to ask him if new drivers say over 40 also got yellow and red or did that get yellow and green, but that was a moot point. So I picked up a set for some friends and moved on. At this point mom seemed a bit tired so I hurried up my shopping and we headed out.
Dad asked what all did I buy and showed some car freshners that had a popular smell in the US but could not be bought there. He laughed some and asked did I like that smell. I said yes and then he asked why didn't I buy more. I told him one would be for a friend. He aske donly one friend? I said well I want to see them fight for it. He laughed again and nodded.

So the drive back home was not a big deal typical car talk and questions about when I will return back to the states. After arriving back at Rieko's place I thanked them again for the day and mention I would like to see them again if possible. They just kind of casually agreed, more like a if we have time kind of agreement. Said goodbye to sister and they headed off. At this point I was ready to pass out b/c it was like I was holding my breath the whole time. It didn't seem so bad after thinking back on the events. I made some grammatical mistakes and immediately tried to correct my self afterwards. I also caught my self using a bit of casual speech and corrected it with polite speech immediately. I did have fun though and the parents were not as scary as I thought. I think I just happen to be lucky to meet a good sane set of parents. heheheh.

Well after words Rieko told me Mom looked at her gift in the car and was really surprised by it. She said that mom Really liked the gift and was happy to have recieved it. She also mention dad had immediately hung up the picture I bought which means he must have really liked that too. All I think made some good choices on the gifts. Thanks Armand V, and Nice gaijin for all the help with dads photo. And thank you everyone else with the suggestions for mom. Sorry leon I didn't buy the food.

Well this concludes this story, I apologize again for all the errors I will have to go back proof read it again.
Damicci-
 
Ah, I can die happy now. Dad liked the photo. :)

(Glad to have helped, BTW.)
 
Alright! Now you can breathe and enjoy life again! :D

Maybe it was better that it happened this way, instead of you meeting them later. Who knows? But you came through it pretty well, it seems.
 
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