Thanksgiving here in Japan was a less-than-exciting affair. There is no holiday of the sort, so celebrations were minimal. The director of my study abroad program did place an order of pumpkin pies through Costco, so each exchange student was allotted one piece during the Thursday afternoon lunch hour. But we were still in Japan, so we devoured our pumpkin pie using not forks, but chopsticks, of course.

Yesterday I returned to the same grilled chicken restaurant that I went to with Otousan a few weeks ago, but this time with a friend. I learned last night that I have no etiquette when it comes to eating yakitori, or grilled chicken. Last time I went, I just picked up the stick with the meat on it and ate the meat off of the stick. But last night, my friend gave me chopsticks to use, and I had no idea what to do. Apparently, one is supposed to take the meat off of the stick using the chopsticks, place the meat on the plate, and then eat it. I proceeded to take off the three pieces of meat from the stick and place them on the plate. Then my friend said, "You're supposed to take off only one piece of meat at a time, or else it's bad manners!" I also piled up the wooden sticks on my plate after removing the meat, but my friend told me to place the wooden sticks in a cup sitting on the edge of the table.

Last Sunday I had my second music rehearsal with my host cousin who lives across the street. We rehearsed the same four pieces we worked on last time, but everything sounded better this time, so I was pleased. I think my host mom is hoping my cousin and I can perform the pieces at a Konan University event someday, but I still become nervous when I perform, so we'll see. My Culture and Education course professor also requested that I play the violin at a college campus that our class will be visiting in a week and a half. He said that at the school when everyone is partaking of "high tea" it would be nice to share some of the exchange students' talents and interests.

Finals season is coming up. It unfortunately lasts for about three weeks here, as opposed to one week in the U.S. I start tomorrow with an in-class essay exam for Japanese language class, and things continue from there through December 22, when winter break begins. Japanese students don't start winter break till December 24th or 25th, so I consider myself lucky.

Wearing a Kimono at Arashi Mountain

On Monday there was a country-wide holiday called Labor Thanks Day (comparable to the U.S.'s Labor Day), and thanks to the help of a very kind Japanese friend, I thoroughly enjoyed myself that day. Okaasan and another host mother, Nishiguchi-san, are friends, and Nishiguchi-san has a daughter named Yuya, with whom I am friends. Yuya invited me to go see the beautiful red maple leaves at Arashiyama, a mountain in Kyoto, and of course I accepted. What made the day even more fun was the fact that Yuya and I were allowed to borrow Nishiguchi-san's kimono (she owns three) and wear them to Kyoto!

I started off the day by going to Yuya's house to don the kimono. Putting on a kimono is a complicated process and it takes a lot of time, maybe twenty minutes or so. However, it is completely worth it, of course! Yuya's aunt, who holds a license in putting on kimono, dressed us in the correct manner. After we were dressed, we took the train to Kyoto (along with what seemed to be half of Japan - everyone had picked the holiday with fair weather as their day to venture to Arashiyama). I couldn't lean back against the seat while wearing a kimono on the train, and wearing a kimono kept my torso very straight, which I liked. I already have decent posture, so it was not uncomfortable to keep my back in an upright position.

Once we left the train, we joined throngs of people walking along the riverbank in western Kyoto in the Arashiyama environs. There is a famous, long bridge, and we crossed it and entered the commercial area, which was filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. We saw brightly colored maple leaves on the mountain side, and we walked through a garden next to the commercial area and saw even more fiery foliage. Yuya and I paid an admission fee for a temple complex, which allowed us to see even more beautiful autumn leaves in a different setting.

I received a lot more attention than I usually do as a foreigner because I was decked out in a kimono. I caught many people snapping pictures of me without asking, but on two separate occasions women did come up to me and Yuya and ask to take pictures with us, to which we consented. I felt slightly flattered but slightly embarrassed by all the attention.

Yuya and I thought we would stay to see the maple leaves lit up at night. The event started at 5:30, so we waited as the air cooled and the sky darkened, and at 5:25 as we made our way up to the entrance for the light show, I saw the seemingly endless line of people ahead of us waiting eagerly to view the lit-up leaves. I decided that my hands were cold and I would be okay without seeing the maple leaves lit up at night, so we decided to end the adventure there and head home. I really enjoyed viewing the vividly colored leaves, and I am grateful to Nishiguchi-san for letting me borrow one of her beautiful kimono to wear in Kyoto!

Kanazawa - Nov. 21 & 22

This weekend was the second of three field trips for the foreign exchange students that will take place this year. This past weekend we took a bus to Kanazawa, a town on the western side of Japan near the sea. (Being near the sea = really fresh sushi!) The bus ride took a couple hours, and along the way we stopped by Eiheiji Temple, which is one of the two headquarters for the Soto Zen sect of Buddhism. Afterward we were scheduled to see a temple that was designed as if ninja had lived and worked there, but we were late because the highway was crowded, so we had to cancel our reservation. We arrived at our hotel in Kanazawa around five, and from their I went out to eat sushi at a restaurant with the conveyor belt that moves the sushi around the restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn't get a table next to the conveyor belt, so I had to use a touch-screen computer that was set up at my table to order sushi and other food.

The following morning we were driven to a beautiful park called Kenrokuen, which is known throughout Japan for its beauty and serenity. At this time of year, many Japanese and visitors alike are crazy about viewing the changing colors of the maple leaves, so I took notice of all the beautiful fall foliage in the park. Afterward I looked at some of the reconstructed sections of Kanazawa Castle (the original was struck by lightening), and then it was already time to return home. We started out the bus ride home around one with a one-hour stop at a place called Tojinbo. Tojinbo has beautiful cliffs, and we were scheduled to take a boat ride in order to see the cliffs, but the wind and waves were too strong that day, so that was cancelled as well. We climbed around on the rocks for an hour and took pictures. Many students (myself included) indulged in ice cream despite the chilly winds. Some people even tried squid flavored ice cream! (I passed on that and stuck with the more traditional vanilla/green tea mix). Despite the cancellations, the places we did see were beautiful, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Assignment Procrastination

Right now I am procrastinating in writing a paper for my Culture and Education class. The paper is not due until Monday and it only has to be a page or two in length, so I'm in no serious danger of failing the assignment, but all the same, I'm not quite sure about what to write. The assignment is to discuss comparative culture and comparative education. That is all. My issue is that it's such a broad topic, I'm not sure how to focus the direction of my essay. I suppose that it's great that I'm able to choose specifically about what I wish to write, and that there is nothing to limit my thinking. This should be a chance to show off my creativity and wow the professor with my brilliance, right? Too bad I don't feel as motivated as I should... I will write this essay based off of a two hour visit to Fukiai High School, an outstanding private high school in Kobe City that specializes in studying international cultures and English language. The students spoke English fairly well, although I still had to speak slowly and use simple grammar and vocabulary when speaking to the majority of them. Some students had more confidence than the average Japanese high school student when using English, which was nice to see. They were shy in speaking with us foreign exchange students, but I could tell that the interest was there in our cultures and different view points. One point Koji Sensei brought up in class which was thought-provoking for me is the idea of studying English to pass tests versus studying English to learn. I feel that the students at Fukiai High School are studying English because they are genuinely interested in learning the language. This point connects to the whole concept of cultural education. In the U.S. junior high and high school students are allowed to choose from amongst several foreign languages the one we wish to study, so U.S. high school students may have a genuine interest in the foreign languages they study. However, Japanese middle school and high school students are forced to study English, so even if they are more interested in Latin American or African cultures, they do not have a choice about which language and culture they may study. This may play a role in Japanese students as a whole performing more poorly on English language assessments than students in other countries.

Afternoon in Tokyo - Nov. 15

Everyone in the Ueki family was busy today, so I left Chiba late in the morning and headed to Tokyo to meet up with two friends who are also studying abroad in Japan this year. They are spending their third year of college at Waseda University. I was supposed to meet up with them at noon, but they couldn't meet me until 2:00, so I had two hours to spare. I spent a good portion of time walking through Tokyo Station, because it is huge, with four floors and many shops. I had just exited the station when I received a text from Okaasan (the one in Kobe) informing me that Yoko had come down with influenza. I sent Okaasan a message asking if Yoko had swine flu, but Okaasan said that at this point, Japanese people aren't concerned with which type of flu anyone has, they just want the person to not contaminate anyone else. Yoko now has to take a week off of school, and she is restricted to her bedroom on the second floor.

Anyway, after that message, I just wandered around the area surrounding Tokyo Station. I didn't find it to be a happening, glamorous place, and I had a lot of luggage and bags with me, so I decided to sit in a coffee shop for a while. But when I realized that smoking was allowed in the coffee shop and everyone around me was doing it, I relocated to a ramen shop and enjoyed a tasty lunch.

I then walked back to the station to meet my friends, and we had a lot of fun catching up on camp news (these are friends I met at my part time job working as a camp counselor in Minnesota) and comparing our exchange experiences. They took me to an area of Tokyo known as Ueno, and I bought a full-body bear costume there. The bear's name is Korirakkuma, and it is a new toy in Japan that has become wildly popular, comparable to but not nearly as famous as Hello Kitty. I also bought my host family "Tokyo Banana," a popular sweet that's made in Tokyo and serves as a good souvenir. I don't see what the connection is between Tokyo and bananas, but hey, these Tokyo Bananas are in demand!

Braブラ Festival - Nov. 14

Today Okaasan (my former host mother), Kotone, and Obaasan (Okaasan's mother) went to the Braブラまつり(BuraBura Festival) in Takomachi, a small town in the countryside about an hour outside of Chiba. "Bra" comes from the name of a town in Italy, and the phrase "Braブラ" (pronounced by Japanese people as "bura-bura") is a play on words of the Japanese onomatopoeia "bura bura," which means to walk in a meandering manner, figuratively speaking. At a bura bura festival, people who live in the area cook various types of foods in mass quantities and serve the food outside their houses to festival goers. So I was able to sample various types of vegetables, a peanut stew, mochi and dango (sweets), grilled sweet potato, etc. by walking around the village and going to people's houses. I was a little worried about the communal serving bowls for mass numbers of people due to the rampant influenza that is currently plaguing Japan, but I couldn't just not eat anything. I went to the festival with my host family, and I wanted to enjoy it. One has to be careful at these sorts of festivals to not eat too much at one place, otherwise one's stomach will quickly fill up and it will be difficult to enjoy all the various food.

At the end of the festival there was an event called mochimaki, in which men climb up on a tall platform and throw hard mochi, rice cakes, out to the festival goers. People can catch the rice cakes and claim them as prizes, and then take them home to grill and eat. I was standing next to Kotone, and the men began throwing the mochi. I was jumping up and down and scrambling around trying to capture as many as possible. I ended up catching two and retrieving two from the ground. Obaasan didn't partake in the event, but she held my coat for me. After all the mochi were thrown, I found Obaasan and Okaasan. Okaasan's pants were really muddy, and she explained that everyone was really aggressive when trying to get the mochi, so she was knocked over. Then the three of us couldn't find Kotone. We looked all over and finally saw her coming toward us with a man we didn't know. Then we noticed that something was wrong. She had blood all over her arms and shirt and was holding a wad of tissues up to her nose. When she arrived, she explained that she was hit in the nose by a flying mochi! It took a while for her nose to stop bleeding, too. Of course it's horrible that she was hurt, but how many people can say that they've been hit by a flying mochi?

Anyway, I feel lucky to have met the Ueki family. Thanks in part to Okaasan's job as an event coordinator for Chiba Corporation, I have attended many events in rural areas, and I feel that I get a unique view of a different side of Japanese life that not many other foreign exchange students get to see by going to these events. Thank you, Okaasan!

Shinkansen Ride to Chiba - Nov. 13

After a short absence from blogging, I'm back! I was gone all weekend on a trip to Chiba (a city 25 kilometers to the east of Tokyo), so I didn't have computer access. I rode the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo and then took an express train out to Chiba to see my host family from three and a half years ago. We've kept in touch, and I was really itching to see them. Plus, I had some Frango mints from Chicago to give them, and I wanted to hand over the candies before too much longer.

But I was really excited to see my former host family because I can actually speak Japanese now and have conversations, so it was so much easier to communicate with them. I could learn more about them and learn a lot from them just by being able to speak Japanese.

I rode the "Nozomi Super Express" Shinkansen to Shinagawa station in Tokyo, and then from there took a rapid train out to Chiba. This was my first experience with the bullet train. The train is very convenient for me because the Shinkansen station happens to be a ten minute bus ride from my host family's home. The train is, of course, very quick, and it's a simpler process than flying in an airplane. My only complaint was that since everyone was eating inside the train, it smelled strongly of fish and snack food.

I got to Chiba and my former host mother and her elder daughter Kotone, who is 18, picked me up from the station. When we arrived at their house I saw Makoto, the younger daughter, too. Their house looked exactly the same, and it smelled the same, too! I was surprised that I recognized the smell of their house, but as soon as I walked through the door, I did! It's not unpleasant at all, simply unique.

We talked in the kitchen for a while and ate a late dinner of oden, which is food simmered in a pot. The most commonly found ingredients in oden are burdock (not frequently eaten in the U.S.), Japanese radish (yes, different from U.S. radishes), and various types of fish. My former host father came home very late, as he always does, around ten o'clock or so, after we had finished dinner, so I didn't have much of a chance to speak with him.

Surprise Classroom Visit

My Culture and Education class professor, Koji Sensei, found me during lunch and asked me if I would sit in on his class with Japanese students and make comments. The class is discussion-based and conducted in English. Today, his students came to class having read Obama's inaugural address and having analyzed specific parts that resonated with them. Various students presented a three-minute summary of why they thought their chosen part of the inaugural address was important, and what it meant to them. Myself and two other exchange students from the United States also contributed with our views as American citizens. We talked about the United States' responsibility to itself and to the rest of the world in terms of respect and philanthropy. We tried to analyze how human love could be used as a tactic to help motivate the United States to solve its own internal dilemmas and help other countries ameliorate their own policies and lifestyles. We also contemplated the meaning of global citizenship, being responsible for the world in times of increasing interconnectedness. I don't always study politics, so I tried to give my opinions as best as possible and analyze what the students said to the best of my ability, yet I sometimes felt slightly unsure of what to say.

On a different note, I'm currently occupied with travel plans. I'm heading off to Tokyo tomorrow, so I need to pack my backpack for my two-night stay with my host family of three years ago. I also need to study for my Japanese test that I have tomorrow morning!!!

Yakitori with Otousan!

Tonight I had a one-of-a-kind cultural experience: eating yakitori (grilled chicken) at a yakitori restaurant with Otousan!!! I was taking a walk with one of my friends, Shoji, when I got a call from an unknown number. I didn't answer the call since I was with a friend, but when the same number called again, I picked up and found out it was Otousan. He and I had talked a week ago about going to eat yakitori but never got around to it. So when he asked if I could come right then and there, of course I said yes. I walked with Shoji to the train station, met my host father there, and then we walked to the yakitori restaurant.

The restaurant was very small. Upon entering, I saw a counter with about ten seats around it. Then there was a slight protrusion from the wall and there were a few (maybe three) tables in the back section of the restaurant. Otousan and I sat at the counter. He ordered various chicken dishes for us to try, most of which were seasoned with soy sauce. I ate chicken skin (my favorite), chicken liver, chicken ligaments (which I had tried before), and chicken hearts. Otousan and I had some very interesting conversation as well. One of the topics which we discussed is my attitude toward achievement. It didn't take him long after meeting me to realize that I am a perfectionist, and he, like everyone else I know, believes I am too hard on myself. He says it's bad for my health to be so hard on myself, and he thinks that I have bigger things to worry about than, for example, a grade on a single chapter exam, so he wants me to not worry so much. Of course I agree with him, but whether I can follow through with this or not is something else.

I had a very relaxed weekend. Yesterday I traveled to Osaka for my first violin lesson with my new violin teacher! We spoke English during the lesson, which helped me to better understand her critiques and comments. When she played her violin to demonstrate to me how to improve my playing, her playing was incredible. I am very grateful to my violin teacher from my high school days for recommending this teacher in Osaka. I will have a lesson once a month here, which is less frequent than my number of monthly lessons in the U.S., but I will try to work hard each month so I can learn the most with my new teacher. It takes about two hours to get from my host family's home in Kobe to my teacher's home in Osaka, but the lesson was totally worth it, and now I feel as though I have a new mastery of the subway and some other train lines in Osaka.

Today I spent most of the day at home, but I did go on two walks. In the morning I took the family dogs for a walk with Okaasan, and in the afternoon I met up with a friend and we walked to a nearby park. I had a very interesting conversation with my friend about relationships between men and women in Japan. We discussed how a Japanese man shows his devotion for his wife in different ways than does a man from the United States. I have heard many stories from other exchange students about their host fathers' actions at the dinner table. When their host fathers want more rice, they simply hand their bowl to the host mother without saying anything, the host mother refills the bowl with rice, hands it back to the host father, who doesn't say anything and commences eating. I told my friend that in the U.S., if the husband did not get additional rice himself, he would at least thank his wife for bringing it to him. My friend replied that Japanese husbands may not always show their appreciation by saying thank you, but he believes that Japanese husbands do love their wives very much and that their appreciation and emotions manifest themselves in other ways. He said that Japanese husbands always try to protect their wives and children when the need arises, and when Japanese women find themselves in difficult situations, their husbands will not try to avoid the situations or run away, but will stick by the women and help them solve the problem. My friend said that this demonstrates their love and devotion to their wives as opposed to frequent hugs, kisses, and saying thank you.

My Part-time Job - Nov. 5

Every Thursday afternoon from 2:45 to 3:45 I tutor Konan University students in English. I go to the office that runs the tutoring program and obtain the room key and sign-in sheet, and then I go to the English tutoring room on the sixth floor of the same building and work with fellow students. Various students visit the tutoring room, most in search of speaking practice. We talk about whatever is on our minds, from the meaning of the word citizenship to English slang to relationships. I have found that many of the students who are majoring in English Literature and who attend the tutoring sessions are quite competent in spoken English, and I am impressed. Each student must sign in on the sign-in sheet and state the purpose of their visit to the tutoring session, so I have also had a few students come to the sessions in search of homework help. I assisted one of my friends with her studies for her upcoming English vocabulary quiz, and she told me she obtained the second-highest grade in the class on that quiz. I am proud of her. I also helped her review a speech she gave for her English class. I took some photos of some of the other tutors, who are exchange students, and some of the other Konan University students who came to the tutoring session to practice English conversation.

Violin Presentation and Dinner in Osaka - Nov. 4

Today I gave a presentation in Japanese class about the violin. We are all required to give ten-minute long presentations about a topic that interests us. One of my Japanese teachers suggested I present on the violin, so I thought, "Why not?" If I ran out of things to say, I figured I could just start playing the violin to take up more time...

But I had plenty of things to say. I talked about the different orchestras I have played in, my summer music experiences, my views on practicing, and my previous private lesson experiences. I demonstrated how to set up the bow and violin to prepare to play, and I played a short piece called Hamabe no Uta, which I learned here in Japan. I took such a long time with my presentation that the person presenting after me didn't have much time to speak! But no one was complaining...

In the evening I met up with a Mexican friend of mine who lives in Osaka. He took me out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, so I got to eat very delicious chicken enchiladas with salsa verde and also practice speaking Spanish. My friend Jorge is twenty-five and works as an engineer for a construction company in Osaka. I am enjoying getting to know various people who are part of the Japanese workforce because it is interesting to hear about what it's like to be employed in Japan. There are language barriers, however, because I am fluent in neither Spanish nor Japanese, but I try to ask and learn as much as possible.

Visit to Himeji - Nov. 4

On Tuesday I finally visited Himeji Castle. Okaasan and I went together and had another adventure. I really enjoy her company, but I hope I'm also spending equal amounts of time with my host family and with friends.

Himeji Castle is simply exquisite. It is, of course, built on top of a hill, and there are beautiful views of Himeji City from all parts of the castle. It is hard to know how much of the castle that is currently standing is authentic, but I did visit Princess Sen's living quarters, which were authentic. I also went during the one-week time period when special parts of the castle that are not normally open to the public were open. I got to see a small tower and the toilet area of the main castle, both of which are areas into which the public usually is denied entry. After we saw the castle, Okaasan and I visited some beautiful gardens next to the castle. The castle was quite crowded with sight-seers, so I was glad to visit the peaceful, quiet gardens.

After I returned home, Okaasan did a little extra shopping in Himeji City and bought me some socks to help me keep warm in my room. I didn't mention this in my previous post, but one reason that houses become rather cold during the winter is there is no internal heating system in houses. They heat the floors with electricity, but there are no radiators or furnaces. I'll have to compensate by wearing more clothing than I do at home in the United States.

It's Chilly Here! - Nov. 3

The orientation handbook I received at U of I did not exaggerate about the weather becoming quite cold here in Japan!!! The weather was mild until the beginning of November. Then, this past Sunday, it suddenly became quite cold.

My bedroom and living area seem to mirror the outside temperature, which means it is extremely hot in my room during the summer and extremely cold in my room during the winter. Okaasan brought an electric carpet into my room from the main part of the house, so that helps keep the room slightly warm. I also bundle up in several layers within my house to keep warm. Taking showers is not such a pleasant experience because contact with the cold air upon finishing the showers is rather uncomfortable.

I've moved my violin and music stand from my room to the main part of the house, which is warmer than my living area. Also, my host family lets me practice violin in the main part of the house, which is incredibly kind of them! Now I just have to overcome my embarrassment of playing in front of people and get used to practicing in front of them!

Visit to Kyoto! - Nov. 1

Today I went to Kyoto with Okaasan! It was my first visit to Kyoto, which is such a famous city known for its wealth of temples and shrines. The weather started out sunny and warm as we walked to the train station in Kobe, but after we finished our visit at the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, it began to rain.

So first, let me back up. I did go to the Golden Pavilion, and I was so excited about this! The Golden Pavilion is an extremely beautiful, gold-colored, three floor building within a temple complex called Rokuon-ji Temple. It was erected centuries ago; however, the building tourists visit today is not the original, I think that it was rebuilt a few centuries ago. Nobility or feudal lords lived in the area surrounding the Golden Pavilion, both of which are World Heritage sites.

Next we went to a shrine about fifteen minutes away from the Golden Pavilion. It was not a World Heritage site, but Okaasan has visited this shrine before so she thought it would be nice to show me. When we got there, she spotted a miko-san, or a woman who assists brides during wedding ceremonies. We then saw a bride and groom come out of a side building near the shrine. They formed a procession and walked toward the shrine, finally entering the shrine structure which is off-limits for regular visitors. It turned out that this was the bride and groom's wedding ceremony, so Okaasan and I were able to watch it from twenty-five feet away. It is rare to see a wedding ceremony because normally only close relatives are invited to keep the cost low. It is, however, more normal to have expensive wedding parties after the ceremony. But the normal marriage ceremony is usually reserved for family. Indeed, there were about twelve or so relatives in attendance at this ceremony.

After we watched part of the wedding ceremony, Okaasan and I ate lunch at a tofu restaurant. It served all different types of tofu dishes. We had fried, crispy tofu (not fried in oil but browned and slightly flaky), warm tofu on a stick covered in a salty miso sauce, and cold tofu in a bowl covered with fish flakes. Apparently this is food typical of Kyoto, so I was pleased to indulge.

Okaasan wished to take me to a shrine after eating lunch, but she took a wrong turn and we ended up at a temple complex. Normally we would have enjoyed walking around and viewing the various buildings, but the rain was coming down pretty hard at this point, so we decided to head home. Despite the rain I thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to Kyoto.

Saturday, October 31

Halloween is not celebrated in Japan the way it is celebrated in the United States. However, there were various parties in restaurants, bars, and clubs in Osaka and Kobe this past Saturday night. I went to a restaurant in Osaka with my Peruvian friend Duñia and her husband.

Duñia is my classmate Kevin's host mother, and I am on good terms with her and her family. Her husband is Japanese, and they have three children, but just the parents came out to the restaurant tonight. They also brought Kevin. Before going to the restaurant, I spent a few hours in Osaka with Yusuke, an acquaintance who is Kevin's host dad's fellow employee for Dell in Osaka. Yusuke and I did some shopping and walked around the city. It's fun to walk through Osaka and see what kind of fashion is currently in style. We also looked for people wearing interesting Halloween costumes, but we didn't see too many costumes. There was good music playing at the restaurant, so we all danced and ate delicious Mexican food. We returned home to Kobe very late at night, but Duñia and her husband, Okamura-san, took me out for a late-night meal of ramen before they dropped me off at my host family's home.

Duñia is a very caring and selfless person. She invites me to spend time with her, she speaks Spanish with me, and she looks after me. Okamura-san drove to and from Osaka so that we didn't have to wait for the trains to start running on Sunday morning in order to return home. They are very kind, and I appreciate their generosity. I enjoy spending time with them.