Thomas Daily in the Land of the Rising Sun: Mission(s) Accomplished...and then some.

Pretty productive week so far; got my immigration postcard on Saturday, went in on Tuesday, and walked out with a three-year visa! Not that I'm going to stay for three years, another year is about all I think I can handle without getting permanently Novafied. But still, it's nice to have that piece out of the way.

That night (being still Tuesday) I went out with Jo for the Big Night: meeting her parents. Jo's parents have been in Japan for about a week and a half, spending the first week with Jo in Kyoto where it absolutely poured. Then they spent some time in Tokyo seeing the sights, before coming back to Nagoya to visit their daughter again, and to meet her incredibly handsome boyfriend.

We met up at Nagoya Station, Jo and I at the clock tower and then with her parents at the information Desk - Jo was quite smart and decided that she would meet me first and then introduce me to her folks. After some introductions we headed out to Yagya for dinner. Conversation was light and easy, which made me very happy; I'd been pretty nervous about a potential interrogation when we met. But my fears were completely unfounded: Jo's folks are incredibly nice, and I had a wonderful time with them. Dinner at Yagya was good too; Jo's folks weren't nearly as frightened by takoyaki (octopus in fried dough balls) as I'd thought they might be. We also had some delicious crab croquettes and prawns in a spicy Vietnamese sauce, among other things. Score two points for the home team.

The next day went well too: Jo invited me out to Nagoya Castle with her and her parents; which was great, considering I've been here a year and still haven't been to see the Castle. It ended up being a perfect summer's day, temps in the low 80s F and sunshine with a nice breeze. We ate miso katsu (breaded pork-on-a-stick with miso sauce) and walked around the grounds, saw the various gardens, walls, and moat; and then went into the Castle for a tour. The inside of the Castle is quite nice since it was rebuilt about 40 years ago, and they're in the process of rebuilding the Hommaru Palace that stood at the base of Castle. There's a lot of history in and around Nagoya Castle; three of the most prominent shoguns were born or battled in the area to move Japan out of the feudal era and create a unified Japan.

After the tour of the Castle, we all settled down on benches for an ice cream break. I got set to order a chocolate cone, when the woman at the counter told me it was actually miso soup-flavor. I got it anyway. Not too bad, but I think it'll stay on my "Things I've Tried In Japan, But Probably Never Again" list. Jo, being intelligent, got strawberry.

After THAT, we decided that there was still time in the afternoon to check out Tokugawaen - the Tokugawa Gardens. Originally built over 300 years ago as a retirement home for the head of the Tokugawa family, this park is still an oasis in the middle of busy Ozone. It includes Ryusenko (Ryusen Lake) stocked with koi, several bridges of various design, a giant restaurant/banquet hall, and at least three waterfalls; all along some gorgeous pathways. Jo laughed at me while her father and I tried to plot the best way to see all the sights around the garden, and even took a picture of us with our maps (which I will try to obtain). Boys will be boys, I guess. But it was a lovely park, and I'll have to go back again. We missed out on the museum, which closes annoyingly early, but does house 'The Tale of Genji' - the world's first true novel.

All the walking left us pretty knackered, so we headed back to the station, Jo's parent bound for their hotel and Jo and I for Tsurumai Park. The evening was wonderful, so we stopped for some snacks, then took a leisurely stroll through the park. Tsurumai-koen is great: it has a beautiful rose garden, which was in full bloom; a nice little pond, unfortunately koi-less, on one end of the park; and two or three monument-like fountains. And in spring it's the home of one of Nagoya's biggest Hanami hot-spots. Nice.

Other than that, not a whole lot has been going on; there's a going-away party tonight for some friends, which will be both fun and sad; and then work again on Friday. And so the weekend flies...

peace.