It has been forever

It has been almost three months since I posted an entry and so much has happened. Alex started his career path as a financial consultant, and he will be commuting to Troy, MI for the next three months and I am starting business school at MSU, which will be a year long program for me. We are taking some steps I would have no seen three months ago, God is good. We were upset about not being able to live in Japan, but we now realize God has different plans for us. :) We are definitely going to visit Japan, and I can't wait for our next trip to Kyoto. Today is a great day that I shall remember forever because: It is the first time I have ever seen my parents eat sushi (sure, it was the most basic sushi, a sushi roll, but they're just starting!!). Here is a little background of my family: They are definitely comfort food type of people, their favorite restaurants are applebees, chilis, etc. Which is fine, but I am the COMPLETE OPPOSITE. I hate Applebees and Chili's! I love trying new things all the time, and I love ethnic foods. I have no idea how/why I am so different from them, but I will embrace it. Tonight we went to a local sushi restaurant, and ordered a roll with shrimp and avocado in the middle, with salmon on the top. It came with Masago (Capellin roe) but I asked them to put it on the side, I wasn't too sure how my parents would feel about Capellin roe, haha. The roll arrives, and my dad takes out his chopsticks and can barely hold them in his giant Irish hands. He pours a generous amount of soy sauce into a dipping tray, and prepares himself for his first battle: picking up the damn sushi roll. This was a feat in itself, he slowly conquered this battle, and his technique improved slowly. When he grabbed his first roll he let it sit in the soy sauce for literally 30 seconds, I was trying so hard not to laugh, it was so cute. He picked it up, put it in his mouth, then gave a nod of approval. Afterwards he washed it down with some green tea which I had ordered. This story seems pointless, but to me it was a huge stepping stone in our relationship, for the last couple of years I have been bugging my parents to see a side of me which I embrace, my husbands culture, the language I love, and they have slowly been coming out of their shells. Last month my dad had mochi, he absolutely hated it (haha), but I was so proud that he tried. After tonight, my desire to show my parents Japan increased ten fold.