My host family is crazy in the best way possible

Hey all,
The focus of this will be my host family, but I'll pick up from the last post for the sake of continuity. On the way back from the airport, Yugo pointed out the moon through the car window and said "Ojiisan," which means grandpa in Japanese. Apparently his mom's dad passed away recently and the moon is now symbolic of his spirit. Well, after Miki-san (mom) explained the recent death, Yugo pipes up with "yeah, mom is always crying as she tries to go to sleep," to her obvious embarassment. After that slipped, I felt like whatever idea or plan for tatemae (keeping up appearances) she have had went out the window. She later explained that Yugo has been rather lonely since the grandfather passed away, which explains his immediate attachment to me. He already was laying in my lap on the way home, and also went through the family names "Terao Miki, Terao Yugo..." only to add "Terao Korin." Needless to say, I quickly felt accepted and integrated into the family.

We got back to the house and I met the dad, Takashi. He works for some insurance company and seems like a pretty cool guy and good with kids. He has crazy hours and there are days when I don't see him. For instance, right now he is in Seoul, South Korea for a few days. Anyway, after some chit-chat that night, the sushi arrived. We all shared a HUGE plate of sushi, and I tried pretty much anything I hadn't seen before, and I still don't know half of what I ate. I do know I ate anago (sardines) sushi at the insistance of my host dad that it was delicious. It was leaps and bounds better than the crap they throw on pizza in the U.S., but I just don't like the little buggers. We actually stayed up pretty late that night talking and watching TV and whatnot. The dad ended up showing me the part of Rocky 3 with "Thunderlips" (played by Hulk Hogan) after we had a long discussion about pro wrestlers. He asked if I knew of the Hulkster, but through his accent I couldn't make out the name. Who the hell is "hogaa" I asked myself, after he insisted this supposed wrestler was really popular in the U.S. Turns out my host dad has some connections, too. He knows some actual sumo wrestlers and asked if I wanted to meet them sometime. Um...hell yes? Finally, after being awake for more than 24 hours straight, I was ready to hit the hay.
The next night they took me to an okonomiyaki restaurant (think savory pancake batter with random stuff mixed in. You can pick wanted you want in them, add toppings, and they bring it to your table and it fries right in front of you on the hibachi style grill. REALLY delicious! I also tried Real Gold, a crazy energy soda/drink they have over here, also pretty tasty. The next morning my host mom askedf I like Miso soup...I told I love the stuff... and she replied "Oh good, because otherwise I didn't know what I'd do for breakfast." We almost always have a bowl of rice and a bowl of miso for breakfast along with other random assorted things, such as fruit, salad, "little smokey"-like weiners, eggs, bread and jam, plain yogurt, etc. Between breakfast and dinner, I don't think I've gone a day with out miso...that rocks so hard it hurts.
Then I had three days of orientation...pretty boring stuff. We had the placement exam, which went fine. I was placed in the highest class, which is good, because McGloin-sensei back in Madison would have had my head on a platter if otherwise, but it's pretty tough so far. I'll whine about classes in another post.
Then on Friday night I just hung out with the family, and the host dad apparently used to practice karate, and since he knew I practice martial arts, we sat down and watched some 15-20 year karate tournament he had on VHS, so that was pretty sweet. Saturday, my host mom and Chiharu-san (or Chi-chan, as most call her; she is my host mom's sister) took Yugo and I to the Setomono Matsuri. It's a festival in Seto bascially where a bunch of people come out sell and buy pottery at pretty cheap prices. That where the picture I posted last time is from. I got to try out some festival food from the vendors. I finally got to try miso katsu on a stick (fried pork in a slightly sweet miso sauce...insanely delicious), some doughnut hole-esque things that weren't nearly sweet enough, sweet green tea(yummy), and finally, octopus tentacle on a stick, which is actually pretty good once you get past the skinny end that is laden with suckers.
Sunday we ran some errands, went to a department store and got some Baskin robbins ice cream, and then stopped at a local fruit stand/garage when it started to torrentially downpour. So we waited there while Yugo made some crazy faces and I learned a new word "amayadori" which basically means to wait for the rain to stop/weaken.
Other than that, it has been a lot of playing with Yugo and eating the wonderful food that the host mom makes. Plus, about 3-4 times a week, the mom's mom and sister (who live together about 5 minutes away by car) come over to have dinner together, so the grandma makes a couple of dishes, too. It's practically a feast.
Yugo likes to watch Kamen Rider (a 30 year old series in the vein of the Power Rangers) and the Gaorangers (Power Rangers with cat claws) and Tryder G7 (some elementary school kids pilots a huge mech robot and saves Japan repeatedly) and often requests that I watch it with him, which is good listening practice, plus the Power Rangers-eqsue shows are nostalgic. I have more stories about the host family...but until next time...
じゃ、また！(Later!)