Another Good Day

Yesterday was one of those days where everything was amazing (those are my favorite kinds of days, by the way). The day before yesterday, my friend Hitoshi mentioned that he was going to go to Costco in Sapporo with his family. Yes I know! I was also surprised to hear that Costco exists in Japan. I dropped a hint around wanting to join him and his family the next day, and he willingly agreed. We ended up talking an express toll way to get part way there, which was about 10 dollars each way; Japan can be really expensive if you want it to be, though despite what many people say, it does'nt have to be. This week must be autumn’s prime time because every mountain is in a frenzy of reds, yellows, oranges, greens, and purples. We had left in the early morning which allowed ourselves to be hypnotized by the plethora of autumn colors, enhanced by the morning sun. We finally arrived at Costco 3 hours later. As we walked in, I was blown away at how similar it was to the ones back home. Actually, it was exactly the same. Everything from the toilets, shopping carts, and ceiling lights were exactly the same. Even the water fountains just outside of the bathrooms have been imported from North America. I had to keep reminding myself that I was still in Japan. I ended up buying a dozen large assorted muffins, a dozen bagels, a 24 pack of Dr. Pepper and a large bag of Kirkland corn chips. Hitoshi recommended that we buy a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. You don’t often see the large orange types in Japan, but instead, smaller green ones. After shopping, Hitoshis parents treated us to the food court, which also was exactly the same to the North American Costco food courts. We had gotten pizza, hotdogs, clam chowder, and of course Costco's famous churros. We went back to Shimizu for dinner, where we met up with Hitoshis brother and several of his brothers’ friends at Torisei, a popular chain restaurant which was initially started in Shimizu, my town. None of them spoke any English, so I was forced to use all the Japanese I could remember on the spot. They all went beyond asking the typical questions of ``Where are you from?`` and ``Do you have a girlfriend?`` We actually got into some pretty intense conversations. I think I had gotten my responses across, but not without the help of Hitoshi.
After dinner, Hitoshi and I met up with our friend Yuriko, at my house, who decided to join us in the pumpkin carving. I haven’t carved a pumpkin in who knows how long, but I never remember it being as fun as last night. This was Yurikos first time, so it was fun to see her reaction when she took the first plunge into the pumpkin with her hand. I carved the top off, Hitoshi carved the face, and Yuiriko fried the pumpkin seeds to eat for later. The best part was both their reactions when I turned off the light with the candle set in the base of the newly carved Jack o lantern. The only things illuminating the room was the small candle surrounded by 3 camera phones. We ended up talking around the jack o lantern well past midnight.
Why are the simplest types of entertainment usually the best? All you need is a large orange vegetable, a large knife, and friends, and you can be entertained for hours.