Fri. Aug. 15 – Filipino in disguise

Dad teases me, and often says I’m simply a “Filipino in disguise.” Don’t get me wrong - I’m quite proud of my background, but it’s true. I consider myself Canadian more than anything. I do enjoy learning about the Philippines, and you can tell by how much importance I place on my extended family. I love love love hanging out with my dozens of cousins, nieces and nephews back in Toronto.
Some of my fondest memories include sitting around the dining table, and eating leftovers with the girls. And I love how it was normal to have a barbecue spit in my uncle’s backyard, where he’d cook up roasted pig whenever the opportunity arose. Food is the glue that binds our family together, haha. And I totally miss all the little kiddos saying “Auntie Gemma!” I don’t know if they’ll remember me anymore, since I haven’t been in T-dot for ages.
This evening, my supervisor lent me his gas range. Woo! Good-bye refrigerated foods and combini foodstuffs. I can eat real food! Mmm. I am so very thankful. The rest of the Motomiya JETs and I were invited to a party at our supervisor’s house. We met the rest of his family, which was pretty cool. It totally reminded me of the impromptu parties we have back at Uncle George’s house. At my supervisor’s home, we sat in his front yard and had some awesome yakitori and other good barbecued stuff at his place. They had a couple grills on the go. It was very oishi!
Being the camera fiend that I am, I asked for some photo ops with the family at the end of the night. I’d show the photos for their approval, and they’d say “Great! Great!” One of the Sanpei cousins is pure jokes. He told me, “Memory are forever.” And when I was leaving, he yelled after me, “I’ll miss you!” I obviously had to yell back “I’ll miss you, too!” They also clapped for me as I expressed my gratitude with “Gochisosama deshita!” (That translates to “Thank you for the delicious feast!”… I hope).
D. is also planning my birthday dinner next week. I’m super stoked; otherwise, I’d probably be sitting at home by myself, eating a bowl of instant ramen. We’re heading to Koriyama for dinner and drinks with some of the other area JETs. D. and I also had the brilliant idea to invite our younger supervisor out for my birthday. I’ve wondered what it would be like to party with him… so we’re making it happen this Tuesday night, I guess! Dude actually accepted our invite, so it’s on like Donkey Kong. Haha, I hope we don’t scare him off!