Sunday is a day off!! I was very happy. This morning, I could stay in bed later than usual. I got up at 10 and I went into the living room. Tomoe was already there, so we went to church to listen to some opera. Richard, my host family's son (above), is a famous opera singer over the world. We played at his house (in his spa and pool) after work and had dinner with his family. So, he invited us to listen to his opera. At the moment we listened to his voice, we were drawn into his world. His voice is amazing!! He is a true professional. I almost cried. After singing, everyone was clapping and he had a standing ovation!
After that, we had lunch. I ate a hamburger. It was a true American one. It was so big I couldn’t bite it. I needed a knife and fork. Then, we went to the Galleria. It is a big shopping mall like lake town in Koshigaya. There are many kinds of stores. In Japan, a shopping mall usually has stores that have goods about the same price stores but in the Galleria there are expensive and cheap stores mixed together. People of different classes live in Houston. In one part of town there are very wealthy people, but nearby there is an area where low income people live in another place. Both of them are almost in the same area downtown. I guess that is what causes the downtown to have many different stores. There are also many Chinese people, too. There is a big Asian supermarket near my house.
11 days have passed since we got to America. Many many people have helped us. I really appreciate their kindnesses. Especially, Sarah has worked hard for us. She took us to many places by car but she made a big mistake in the car - don't forget it’s the right side of the road in America, Sarah!! ha ha! At any rate, I am enjoying Texas life!!
Dear Sarah and Tom,
ReplyDeleteDriving on the right side is so hard for us.
Don't blame Sarah.
I was intrigued with the opera singer.
I wish I could listen to his singing.
Hitomi Sakamoto
Dear Tom,
ReplyDeleteThanks for a very interesting post, and please forgive me for taking so long to respond. I was in Canada for a couple of weeks and I completely forgot about your blog for a while. I'm sorry. Anyway, I'm back in Japan now.
First, I must admit that I'm not a big fan of opera. In fact, I used to set my clock radio to an opera station to wake me up. That's terrible I know. I shouldn't be so frank, but it's the truth. Mostly, opera's beauty is lost on me. However, when I was a boy, my church had a great choir, and I loved listening to it during Sunday mass. Father O'Brien, the pastor of my church, was a big fan of Baroque music, and so the choir sang a lot of Baroque music, especially Bach. I loved it.
Shopping Malls are an interesting thing. They are like communities inside communities. Again, please forgive me for being so frank, but I must admit, I don't like shopping malls, even the ones in Japan. I thought your observations about different classes in America were interesting. Class isn't as much of an issue in Japan, perhaps. What do you think?
As for our beloved Sarah, I have no doubt that she's an excellent driver.