Yesterday, I took the subway to Nodahanshin, which is the nearest station to Sehee`s house. I met her at the station, and we walked back to her apartment together. It`s kind of small, and a little dirty (her host parents both smoke and drink a lot), but still kind of cozy altogether.
Her host mom came home from work, and I only had time to say my name and good evening before she told me to sit down and started doing my hair. After my hair was done, Sehee`s host grandmother helped me into my yukata, which is a summer version of the kimono. I wore a tanktop and a sheer white cotton underskirt that tied around the waste. Then I put on my yukata, which was then tied twice with a white cotton cord. Lastly, She wrapped me up in my obi, which is kind of like a belt, or corset and kind of keeps everything all together. The way the back is tied is very important.
Once Sehee was all finished up, we slipped into geta, or wooden sandals, and proceeded to head back to the station area to do purikura! However, a little over halfway there, it started pouring rain! The two of us took shelter under the roof of a small tabacco shop. By the door was a canister that had a few umbrellas in it. We contemplated borrowing one (without asking) but in the end Sehee got up the nerve to ask the nice ojichan who ran the store if he could lend us an umbrella. So he comes out with this nice, new umbrella and tells us we can keep it! It was pretty sweet of him, but we had already been standing there for 10 minutes!!
With the umbrella, we made our way to the purikura machines. It was really busy, and many other people wearing yukata were taking purikura. On the way home from the purikura extravaganza, we were able to see some of the fireworks lighting up the sky. Unfortunately, by the time we had walked home, we missed all the fireworks. They were only on for about half an hour.
After getting home, we changed out of our wet, hot yukata and back into normal clothes. We ate dinner with Sehee`s host parents and a bunch of their friends. Afterward, we took our bathes.
While I was in the bath, Sehee knocks on the door and says, `Uh, Anje someone needs to use the toilet. It`s a girl.` So I was like, okay, that`s fine. So the girl came and left. But then, I hear a man`s voice saying, `Sorry, just using the toilet!` and I`m kind of like AHHHHH!!!!! That was slightly uncomfortable. I was just about to get out of the shower too! So then I had to sit there and wait for him to finish before I could leave.
The next morning, we went with Sehee`s host parents to this really cheap mall near Namba. From there we walked the whole of Shinsaibashi back to Namba station and then I went home.
When I got home, everyone was gone. The front door was locked. I do not have a key for the front door. I went over to the grandparents house to see if they could help. No one home there either. I checked all the windows and finally found that the ones to the living room were open….They are also slightly small. I found a wooden bench and brought it around to the window. It was too short and I couldn`t reach. I looked around for a while before finding a ladder. I took the ladder around to the side of the house, and somehow I dropped into the window, sliding sideways and landing feet first!
My host family will get a kick out of that story!
