Heidi and I woke up to what was an absolutely gorgeous day. From what Heidi had said the sun came the day I came, and that before that it had been raining for weeks. Lucky me. We took our time getting up and decided to head to Mission Park for a lazy lie-about in the sun. Back on the bikes I followed Heidi and we ended up in a very cool area called the Mission. We parked our bikes along side the hoards of others and right there on that block corner you could really see San Francisco. That was obviously the place the locals hung out on a nice weekend day. The park was huge but it wasn’t easy to find an empty space to set ourselves up on. We headed to the top of the hill and eventually settled in. There was a beautiful view of the city from there, the landscape view and the people immediately around us made me feel like I was really getting a taste of it.
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| View of cute butts, I mean boys, in Mission Park |
We relaxed, used my spying lens on the new camera, watched a group of girls all dressed in their nicest little tea party dresses having a picnic gathering, watched a group of guys in their skimpiest underwear sunbathing, watched an old grouchy guy and his dog, and we chit chatted ourselves. Then we got an unexpected call from my mom. My mom and her best friend (since grade-school) Kathy had been on a road trip from Aspen to Salt Lake City to Northern California and were headed down to San Francisco to pick me up. They weren’t supposed to be in San Fran until tomorrow, but turned out they were already in Sausalito and checked into a hotel. I think my mom couldn’t wait another day to see me when she was already so close!
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| Looking over Mission Park, San Fran |
After the hike we headed into Sausalito and found the hotel where my mom and Kathy were staying. When we got out of the car my mom was standing a few blocks away and we made eye contact...we both started running at the same time and ended up in a laughing embrace. I nearly cried, it felt so good. The last time I’d seen my mom there was a lot of tense air that we always had to move through. To say the least, my parents did not approve of the relationship I had been in at the time and it had been a really rough patch in what was usually such a stable and supportive relationship. Since the breakup and all the emotional ups and (mostly) downs that I’d gone through while in Japan we’d really become back like normal and it felt so good to see her with the new fresh air.
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| Reunion with mommy! |
We went up to the room and changed out of our hiking clothes and into some dinner clothes. The four of us walked the streets of Sausalito on a Saturday night and I realized how much this was something I missed. I missed getting dressed up, getting together with friends and family, having good conversation, and going out for dinner. We ended up in a little Italian restaurant called ‘Angelino’s’ and we were swiftly welcomed by our waiter. Mom and Kathy got down to their drinking while I looked over the menu for vegetarian options. Italian restraints never pose as a good option for me but it was a busy Saturday night and when they could seat us right away I wasn’t going to complain.
http://www.angelinorestaurant.com/
The thing is-- that kind of ordering simply is not an option in Japan. In fact, going out for meals in Japan causes all sorts of stress for me and the people I’m with as I always dread having no options and the people being unwilling to help me out. In general, the idea of being a vegetarian has not caught on in Japan. Instead they seem to see it as a ‘hoity toity’ thing us westerners do and they want no part in it. The few times I have been with other people and they have requested alterations made to a dish for me the waiter will flat out refuse or make it quite clear that they are unhappy to do it.
I guess that’s why at the end of the meal I was praising the waiter so much, while my mom, Kathy and Heidi all seemed to be unphased by his willingness to go above and beyond for a customer. American’s in general are quite used to and in fact demand that the customer is always right and always gets their way- their choice. Japan is not quite the same. In fact they think that they already have the right way for everything and so suggesting something different is considered disrespectful. I have found this aspect of their culture rather infuriating and it has been a large part of my reasons for never feeling quite comfortable there. The following film has a wonderful example that the speaker had while she was in Japan in the introduction of her speech. The rest of the film is excellent as well in displaying the differences between how different countries view “choice.” But definitely take a look at the first few minutes just for the Japan example.
http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html
After dinner Heidi and I headed back to her house with plans made for tomorrow with Mom and Kathy. But before bed we decided to grab some desert at a little place a few blocks from her house called 'Candybar.' Candybar is ‘San Francisco's first dessert lunge’ and had a very cool atmosphere. Funky artwork, fluffy furniture, fabulous desserts, and games! We had to wait a while to be seated but once we were we grabbed a box of connect four, made our order, and battled. Of course Heidi repeatedly kicked my ass (after all she is an engineer and I barely passed 4th grade math) but it was damn fun! Also the carrot cake and apple a la mode were very good company to our games!
http://www.candybarsf.com/
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| Heidi and I relaxing in the Candybar |
After finishing our treats and games we walked home and crawled into bed…another exhausting but wonderful day.
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