Last Friday as soon as I got off of work, Ian and I had to run by the BOE to take care of some paperwork regarding the new car. After that we had a few other errands to run…..including going by the mechanic to pay the bill for the last time we got our old car worked on. Our mechanic and his family are really nice, and they (like all other Asians) LOVE Ian. 
While we were there, the mechanic asked us if we would like for him to quote us a price for shaken. We said yes, and we paid our bill while he checked our car. I believe that I posted last week that the mechanic in Hitoyoshi who we bought the car from quoted us the price of 100,000 yen ($1,077). 
Since we actually know the mechanic here in Yunomae, we thought that he would give us a better deal on shaken. However……..not the case. 
Our shaken, which is due by the end of the month, will set us back 100,000 yen. 
As we were leaving the shop, the mechanic’s wife offered us some tofu. We tried to politely refuse, but she seemed really downtrodden that we wouldn’t accept her tofu, so we took it and said thank you. Then she offered us a carton of eggs. 
We tried to politely refuse that as well, but she wouldn’t hear any of it and held out the carton for us to accept. I know that sounds random, but stuff like that just happens in Japan. 
Spend 100,000 yen at the mechanic and get free tofu and eggs….sounds about right, right?
Our next stop was the grocery store. As we pulled up, some of the JHS kids were walking home from school. As Ian parked the car, I leaned down to the floor board to pick up my purse, and when I looked up again, one of my sweet third grade girls had stopped right in front of our car and had formed a heart with her hands. When we got out of the car, she said, “Nice couple! Loving couple!” Ha, ha, ha!
I got to drive our new car for the first time on Friday night. It was quite the experience and COMPLETELY different from driving our little putt-putt car. Since we have a white plate car now, (meaning it has an engine over 660 cc!) it’s almost like driving a normal car. It’s still a small car by American standards, but considering that what we were driving was nothing more than a large wind-up car, it’s like the difference between night and day! What it really reminded me of was riding in first class for the first time. I thought, “WOW! I’VE BEEN MISSING OUT ON THIS???” Bear with me as I describe the magical journey it was to drive the new car…..
As soon as I started the car, I noticed a difference. IT. WAS. SO. QUIET. There was no noise from under the hood, gears grinding in complaint, or whirring sound from fan belts slipping, etc. As I backed out of our spot, I realized how much larger the car was than our old one. Good gosh! Until I got used to it, it really felt like a tank. Since our old car was only slightly longer than a European mini, it was NEVER an issue to back up. Both the gas and brake pedals were incredibly more sensitive. I barely had to touch the gas, and the car WENT. It didn’t take much to get up to speed. I barely even noticed that I was going 80 KPH because it felt like I was crawling. Going 80 KPH in the old car felt like we were flying and that if we went over a bump too fast we just might catch a little air. On the mountain road that I had to take, the car didn’t complain as it climbed up the hills. I was rather impressed!
On Friday night the Kuma-gun gals had a ladies night complete with chocolate fondue, movies, and nail polish. Everyone brought snacks to dip, and we had a wonderful little girlie time. We watched two movies to take us back….Mean Girls and Now and Then. While pretty much everyone had seen Mean Girls, I was surprised that no one except for Shara and I had even heard of Now and Then. GASP! Most of the Kuma-gun gals are fresh out of college and several years younger than me. I usually forget this aspect until something like this happens, and then it makes me feel old. That movie is the perfect coming-of-age story that was made in 1995….as in when Margo, Sara, Mollee, and Melissa were pre-schoolers. Now I feel old….BOOOOOO!!
That’s all for now. I’ll probably squeeze out a few more blogs in the next couple of days because I’m sick with laryngitis. I stayed home from school today and am not sure about tomorrow……. Although Ian says it’s funny and likes to laugh at my squeaky/crackly/non-existent voice, I’ll definitely be ready to get it back!! So if I can’t talk…..I’ll write!
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