Takashi's Visit

When Ron lived in Japan for two years back in 2000 to 2002, he became friends with a lot of Japanese people--especially Takashi.  Although it has been thirteen years since he lived there, Takashi and Ron have stayed in touch.  Takashi came out to visit him two times in California and once to Seattle right after we moved here in 2007.  We also saw Takashi and his wife when we went to Japan two years ago and told them several times about the "Hattori Hotel" (the basement in our new house) that would be available to them any time they ever wanted to visit the U.S.  Well, Takashi finally took us up on our offer and flew out for another whirlwind weekend (that is how the Japanese do it) with his friend, Kan-Chan.  Both of these guys are big, American car buffs--especially of the old fashioned variety and so they planned their visit to see us the same weekend as the HUGE, annual car show in our town that displays 4,000 cars at the fairgrounds.  So, although we got into town late Friday night after being gone a week, we turned around and welcomed them into our home Saturday morning!  Ron spent all day Saturday at the car show and at the Lemay Car Museum in Tacoma and all day Sunday taking them on a road trip to Mt. Rainier and back while I stayed home and cooked, and cleaned, and watched children.  So, we both did our part to make sure that their stay was comfortable and enjoyable.  The children and I had a good time spending our breakfasts and dinners with them and got a kick out of trying to communicate with the massive, language barrier.  Plus, it was fun to show them Japanese-themed scenes from Pixar's Cars II and Big Hero Six.  They were as Japanese as it gets--leaving their shoes by the door, showering us with gifts, and ooohing and ahhhing over things like mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs.  It was so nice to have a little piece of Japan in our home for the weekend!

Here is Lia and Ron with our guests before Ron took them to the airport on Monday morning.  And, yes, even adults Japanese people have to pose silly for pictures.  Classic.