Our friends are leaving today. They arrived in the states back on June 6th, but didn’t start staying with us until June 14. They are going to stay with another family in Ontario, since their flight back to the midwest starts from Ontario airport.  

While they are here, “they” being mom, dad and a 14 yo son, we give up our bedroom and let them stay in it, while we sleep on air mattresses in the second bedroom/studio. But whatever inconvenience it might be, I consider the trade-off worth it because of the time I get to spend with them. I took off 5 of the 9 working days they stayed here so I could just hang out and talk.  

The mom is from Japan, so we tried our best to get her some Japanese food before they go back to Missouri, where apparently it’s more difficult to find.  

The son, who was small last time they were here four years ago, is now taller than I am. They also mentioned that it’s tough to keep him fed with his growth and wanting to work out. So we made it our mission to make sure he didn’t go to bed hungry. 

I made some big filet mignon’s the first Thursday night they were here. Then we went to my favorite pizza napoletana place, Fuoco, on Saturday with some mutual friends. 

Made my tacos for them on Sunday night- which consists of homemade corn tortillas, grilled chimichurri marinated flank steak, green onion, cilantro, avocado, and some salsa. In my personal opinion, the best taco’s I’ve ever had, but that’s according to my particular tastes, so I won’t guarantee everyone else thinks the same thing. 

We went to a Japanese restaurant on Monday night, a Japanese Ramen restaurant on Tuesday night and the other nights they had other engagements with different people they knew.  

But it was good to have them here. They will be back for two weeks after returning from the Midwest, but they have an Airbnb they’re staying at for that time. Though I believe they’ll be here for the last day before they head back to Cambodia, so we’ll see them one more time.  

We also watched 5 episodes of a Japanese comedy on Netflix. Like I said, we were trying to get mom as much Japanese as we could before she left for the midwest.  

But overall, the conversations are what I’m most thankful for. I won’t get that for another 2 years at least, since they alternate their yearly visits between Japan and the US. But I’m always grateful for their friendship and how much I learn from them when they’re here.