Today, my hostfamily invited me to the Osaka Japanese stake restaurant. We have exchanged email so many times since we met last time in last September. We talked about election, politics, Bush or Kerry, Christmas break, New Year窶冱 holiday and so on. It was actually second time to see each other, but we had lots of topics to talk. But today, we went to an informal meeting with those who go to the same church at the restaurant.

It was a really interesting and amusing restaurant. Atmosphere was kind of combined; there was a Sushi counter like Japanese traditional restaurant, but on the other side, there was a bar counter like typical American bar. Some waiter looked Japanese (or Asian) American. But I am sure that they didn窶冲 learn Japanese language because some Japanese character was incorrect unfortunately.

In addition, they serve so many Japanese stuff; Sushi or Edamame or Sake. Since we arrived earlier a little, we had some food as appetizer. I ordered Sashimi style Tuna and Japanese Asahi beer. (I could order either Nigiri or Sashimi style.) Both tasted so good. It was as if I were in Japan. But interestingly, my hostmother, Carolyn, told me that she didn窶冲 want to taste Sashimi since it is raw material. She worried about if she got cold or disease. That actually made me laugh. Although I wondered the freshness of those fishes, nobody cares about it in Japan. My hostfather, John, told me that it is delivered by air and there is a market in Cedar Rapids that deals with marine stuff.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Japanese taste after 2 weeks absence.

Then, we moved to the party room. There were two Teppan in the room. It was like Okonomiyaki shop. People, about 15 or more, gathered in the room and John introduced me to them. Some of them had some experiences or traveled in Japan. My hostfamily haven窶冲 visited Japan yet, but they went to China in October for three weeks. They had tons of pictures! Hearing their story was so amusing. They visited Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and many other places. I saw some pictures of Great Walls or the Forbidden City or the Yangtze River (for readers in Japan; these places are really famous in Japan as well).

After ordering the main dishes, the chef came. This restaurant is known for chef窶冱 unique performance. He first cooked fried rice. He threw the egg in the air with using spatula lightly and broke it, then, made scrambled egg. In addition, he cut the scrambled egg into some parts and fed us by throwing it using spatula to our mouth. I was so amazed. I missed catching it twice, but at last, I could make it. It was outstandingly cool!
I ordered chicken and salmon combo as a main dish. He burned both salmon and chicken in an exaggerated way, then, cut it, and gave it to me. Since I could eat it while it is so hot, it was so good. Although it was far from the Japanese cooking way or Japanese taste, I enjoyed the dinner.

We talked about various topics. I told the troubles that I had experienced during the return trip to the States. I was asked Japanese cultures or customs many times. We enjoyed the differences from eating manners to politics or religion. Since people who came here today are all comparatively religious people; they go to church every week; they do blessing before having the meal, I was asked about Buddhism or temple in comparison with the Christianity and church. But, in fact, I couldn窶冲 explain these cultural topics well. I wish I could have explained about Japan or Buddhism more.

Overall, we had a really good dinner. Good Japanese food, amusing chef窶冱 performance, and conversations were all lots of fun. I promised to see each other in some time next month with my hostfamily. This time we concentrated on the dinner relatively, so next time I would like to talk more our concerned issues.