Nippon

Last night while at my parents house my dad informed me that we were having Tonkatsu for dinner. YUM! I said.

Then I got thinking.....is it weird that words like Tonkatsu sound as normal to me as, say, butter? {that's a normal word, right?}


See, I grew up hearing things like "Daniel-san", "o denwa des", "ichi, ni, san....", "sukiyaki for dinner tonight", "moshi moshi", "Jan ken po". I could go on and on.


My Dad served an LDS mission to Japan & has been somehow involved with Japan ever since. I could count to 10 and name most of my body parts in Japanese before I turned 2. I don't remember a year of my life that we didn't have Japanese friends {and strangers} staying at our house while visiting America, or going to school. I wore kimono's and played with Japanese toys {which were always much cooler than American toys, by the way}.


My Dad taught Japanese at the University of Utah. I even went to his class one semester with my friend when we were young {still can't speak it, however!}. Every summer of my childhood my Dad was in charge of an exchange program with NBN {Nagoya Broadcasting Network} that brought a group of college-aged guys {never any girls....i wonder why?} to Utah to study, tour, and stay with host families. As a result, I got to travel with them to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon & Zion's National Park. Every. Single. Year. I loved it! Usually I got to bring a friend, and we'd huddle in the back of one of the big-A University vans and giggle about one or more of the cute return missionary boys that my dad had recruited to come along & help translate, etc. I ALWAYS had a crush on one. Time was also spent trying to get the Japanese guys to sing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" {think Christmas Story...."fa ra ra ra ra"} and say other English words that made them look and sound ridiculous! Ah, good times. I loved these summers.


I got to go to Japan with my parents when I was in Jr. High, which was an amazing experience and another post altogether.....


Japanese culture has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. And I'm glad. I've learned different customs, how to communicate with someone you can't understand, how to appreciate "western" toilets, and covet the deluxe toilets from Bro. Ono's house in Japan {how do I love thee? Let me count the ways....heated seat, remote lid lift, radio, turbo flush...}.


To this day, the Hotel Young-u is still going strong. There's always someone coming to stay, usually without much notice {my mom's a saint}. My twin brothers both served missions to Japan. The torch has been passed {though I hope for Andrea & Leah's sake there aren't alot of Japanese visitors in their future!!}.