Whomever asked me about the twenty-five businesses and what products they produce, keep dreaming for an answer...

I do not recall mentioning this in a previous blog post, although it happened almost a week ago. It's quite a funny exchange, so I will mention it now. Last week, I asked my host mother if I could wear a tank top and shorts in the house. She said that was fine. But she said it may not be such a great idea to wear such a revealing outfit (in my opinion, the average Japanese woman dresses more modestly than the average woman from the United States) outside when I leave my section of the home and walk to the section of the home in which my host family lives, which is right around the corner in a busy intersection. My host mom cautioned that if people saw me wearing that sort of outfit, I may give off the image of a "slut." I said, "Excuse me, a what?" My host mom replied, "A slut. You know what that means, right?" I told her that in the United States the word has a negative connotation, and she told me that it refers to a good-looking, long-legged girl who reveals a fair amount of skin in Japanese. The word's Japanese definition does not seem like such a bad thing, it may even be rather complimentary. However, I think my host mom cautioned me against portraying that sort of image so that I would not attract unwanted attention, which it is, as I have noticed, fairly easy for me to do in Japan.

Last night Okaasan (my host mother) and I teamed up and got Otousan (my host father) to agree to go on a family outing next week during the national holiday. (I am now using the names I call my host family members by to refer to them. It seems silly to call them host ___ when that is not what I call them in conversation. It also takes too long to type.) I told Okaasan (honorific for mother) that I wanted to do something as a family soon since Ryosuke (my host brother) is returning to college in a few weeks and Otousan (honorific for father) and Yoko (my host sister) are always busy with work, school, and horseback riding. Okaasan told me that I should ask Otousan instead of her, because he would be more likely to acquiesce if I asked him than if she did. After I asked, Otousan agreed that we will climb nearby Mount Rokko next Tuesday, so I am looking forward to the family outing.