"Be my guest, be my guest..."

I've had a great weekend so far entertaining friends at my apartment. (or "apato" as we say in Japanese) :)

I love having people over! But entertaining at home is something that's not as common in Japanese culture; most people go out to meet up for meals.

On Friday night, Hatsumi and Kyoko came for dinner. I made fried rice, and they brought side dishes and drinks. Afterwards, I helped them book domestic tickets for when they visit America in September.

They were so amazed by my nifty apple slicer from America (Thanks, Mom)...

"Wow!"

Then today, I had lunch & watched a movie (English w/ Japanese subtitles) with my friends Sachi and Yuka.

I thought that we were going to make lunch together, but they came over carrying a fully prepared pasta meal and some really nice dishes...

...so I got out my nice cocktail glasses for the occasion. :)

Next time they come over, it'll be my turn to cook for them, that's for sure!

Yuka made a strawberry cake for dessert, and it was pretty as a picture, so I took a picture...

I told Yuka, "This looks delicious!" But she shook her head and got out her electronic dictionary to search for an English word to describe her feelings about the cake. When she'd found the word, she showed me her dictionary and is said FAILURE.

"What!? Aww...I'm sure it's not a failure!" And it wasn't at all. It was a total scrumptious success.

And speaking (err, writing) of total scrumptious successes...

These were the delightful desserts we had on Tuesday at my English conversation class.

I have quite the collection of "sweet photos." To think that before I came to Japan, I was concerned that the desserts wouldn't be sweet enough. (I was thinking of the bland "sweets" at Chinese buffets.) Definitely no need to worry though. :)

Well, it's bedtime for me. I'm getting up early tomorrow to dance in Morioka with my dance team. Stay tuned.

Sweet dreams!