Saying our goodbyes

As the day gets closer for us to take our leave of Japan we've been spending more time with our friends here to say goodbye. On Saturday night our neighbors and best Japanese friends here invited us over for dinner. They prepared a dish called Sukiyaki which is a one dish meal traditionally containing beef, mushrooms, cabbage and various other bits. She went all out, also providing crackers and cheese, edamame, and yummo fish skin (gag). It was beautifully presented and we were so flattered at all the trouble they went to for us.

So Marina (the adorable little girl in the above picture) took it upon herself to teach me how to properly eat sukiyaki. First you crack an egg in the bowl. Then you stir it up with your chopsticks. I was skeptical of this thinking "I have to eat with those" but everyone else was doing it!
Then we wait while Yumi cooks the beef and veggies in the special sukiyaki pot. I asked, and they really don't use this for anything else!
Then to my surprise she plops a piece of meat into my raw egg. I sat there for a minute trying not to vomit. I kept thinking that this couldn't be right, surely there was some broth going in there, something hot that would cook the egg?? Nope. Just pick up the beef now that it's all nice and gooey with egg and eat it. I actually looked over to see Marina slurp up a spoonful of the egg!! BARF!
We had a great time despite the raw egg! Marina is just about the cutest thing ever!
You've seen me write about Keito before - he's a trouble maker and always wants to be the center of attention!
Thumb wars is universal!
They think of Mack as a giant playground!
Here we are at the end of our last dinner together. It was so sad, both Yumi and I cried.
We had a fantastic evening, but I warn you - westerners are not meant to eat raw egg. I learned this the hard way when the egg decided it wanted back out and I ended up hugging the toilet in the middle of the night. Still worth it though.