When David becomes enveloped with a foreign culture in an effort to find a career, he quickly suffers from culture shock and homesickness before he can leave; however, a girl is transferred to his office, and she shows him a side of Japan that he di...
{A place close to the house I visited when meeting Kaeda's parents.}
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Early on, Kaeda had expressed a desire for me to meet her parents, but neither of us actively engaged in the concept with more than verbal reminders that it should happen before I left to return to the States.
I am not afraid to admit that I was naïve with the idea of dating or even experienced with serious relationships. However, I knew perfectly well why Kaeda wanted me to meet her mother and father.
So, when I was invited to go to her uncle's house for a family gathering, I was not caught off guard. Both of her parents were living in Okinawa. This made it easy to picture them as strict, very controlling people. And since Kaeda never talked about them, I bravely assumed that her relationship with her kin was lackluster— piss poor or not at all good.
This was not the case.
Kaeda had an exceptional relationship with both of her parents. She just never felt the desire to talk about either of them and looking back, I suppose I more or less reflected the same feelings about my bloodline.
I digress.
It was a Friday when dinner came around, and instead of going home to freshen up, Kaeda took me straight to her uncle's house. To my amazement, it took us nearly 2 hours to arrive. On the way there, Kaeda drilled into my head some topics that were taboo. For her dad, Daisuke, I would have to negate all subjects involving politics, especially those containing Korean or Chinese trades, people, and culture.
For her mother, she made it very comprehensive to me. I would offer no hint of the occult. All relations with my "friendly ghost" would make no visit to our conversations, and the topic of anything relating to such things was to be entirely forgotten. My hauntings, my dreams, even her gift to me would have to be ignored. Kaeda's mother was a stark believer in these things and dived deep into these matters. She would have no problem dissecting me with questions that I had no ability in answering— not to mention, it would have been likely damaging to our relationship.
...
When we arrived, I saw a man outside smoking. I had internally hoped that this man was her uncle, but after seeing their exchange, I knew this man to be her father. Kaeda gestured to me after she hugged and greeted him. (This was my first time seeing her so happy meeting another person.)
Between Kaeda and her father, I saw almost no resemblance. He was very tan and had smile lines on his eyes and forehead. His hair was thick but styled as one might suspect a businessman's. He was, in no way, formal in his attire. Just khaki cargo shorts and a clean white polo shirt. What caught me off guard was his ability to address me in English. It was heavily accented, sometimes slow, but very understandable. He seemed enthusiastic to meet me. It became apparent Kaeda had been talking about me for a while. We might've talked out front for hours if it weren't for her uncle coming outside to see what all the commotion was about.
