So today, Natsumi and I went up to Chicago to pick up her mom who flew in on a United flight. We got to O'hare a little early and also $1.90 light due to the fucking tolls. Reason one why I hate Chicago TOLL BOOTHS. We get to O'hare early and eat some McDonalds, it's interesting that there are two of them within walking distance of the Arrivals and Departures terminals, it's like saying "Welcome to America, we're fat pigs!" I <3 Consumerism. Anyway, she finally arrives and in Japanese, which I found out this evening, Natsumi calls her mom "fat". The woman stands about 5'2" and weighs next to nothing. Cultural difference indeed. So after a quick stop at the local Japanese supermarket in Arlington Heights, we get a tank of gas and get on the road, with me behind the wheel. After another $1.90 in tolls and almost being smacked into by an SUV, we leave the chicago city limits. Both women promptly pass out once we get into the car past all three toll stations and are on 55 south. Natsumi wakes up after an hour and we start talking about little things then I notice that her car hasn't been serviced yet, in fact, the last time it was serviced was April 2004!!! She drove 9000+ miles on the same oil, without adding any, but amazingly, we were getting well over 35mpg in her 95 Sentra still, on the highway going roughly 75mph. After a quick instruction of what "throwing a rod" is, she promised to take the car in, and now I was stuck having to check to see if the oil light on the dash had come on for another 200 miles till I got to st. louis.
Natsumi's mom is absolutely adorable and is nothing like she said she would be. She was very open and took intrest in just about anything, she even tried to talk to me to ask me if I was tired from driving home when we had to pull over so she could use the restroom. Another thing is that she asked me to come back to Japan with her and Natsumi when they leave in June, though I had to politely decline due to financial reasons and my job, since I can't be in Japan for a month and expect to keep my job. Prior to all of this my mother had asked me to ask Natsumi if she and her mom would like to have dinner with us before they made the hour and a half journey down to Cape. Natsumi told me at first that she declined, but when she got in the car she wanted to eat and meet my family. Thankfully, we got her in the car around noon and I called my mom to relay to Greg that we needed to feed two more people this evening. She enjoyed dinner and Greg even prepared Salmon with a japanese sauce which she thought was excellent, but she loved the asparagus the best.
We're all tired from driving and 18 miles from home traffic stops in Illinois. Dead stop. I mean, I put the car in park for 5 minutes and we still had not moved in the fast lane. So I decided the next exit to turn around and head back up 55 to 270 and loop around to get to the city. This took awhile and we arrived an hour and a half late to dinner. Fuck Illinois. Illinois drivers also have no regard for speed limits. It's posted 65 and I was still getting passed going 85, regularly, Natsumi would not let me drive faster since she didn't want to get pulled over. All of the cops were concentrated in one area, around Springfield. In 20 minutes, I saw two speed traps, and 10 police cars. I had seen only two before near Chicago travelling towards chicago and 4 on our way up to Chicago at 6am this morning. WTF?
Natsumi and her mom just left my place about 30 minutes ago, still very tired from their travels. I hope she can stay awake long enough to make it home and to call me when she gets there, but she needed to get more gas, even though she went 334 miles and still had a quarter of a tank. I can't wait for her to come back with her mom, but I got called into work on Sunday so now I'm super fucking pissed because I was going to go to the botanical gardens with them. My job sucks.
Long story short. The families have met and it seems like it was a good experience. I hate Illinois, and I hate driving in Illinois even more. I will never go to chicago again, unless I am not driving. My job still sucks. Natsumi is still wonderful.
Natsumi's mom is absolutely adorable and is nothing like she said she would be. She was very open and took intrest in just about anything, she even tried to talk to me to ask me if I was tired from driving home when we had to pull over so she could use the restroom. Another thing is that she asked me to come back to Japan with her and Natsumi when they leave in June, though I had to politely decline due to financial reasons and my job, since I can't be in Japan for a month and expect to keep my job. Prior to all of this my mother had asked me to ask Natsumi if she and her mom would like to have dinner with us before they made the hour and a half journey down to Cape. Natsumi told me at first that she declined, but when she got in the car she wanted to eat and meet my family. Thankfully, we got her in the car around noon and I called my mom to relay to Greg that we needed to feed two more people this evening. She enjoyed dinner and Greg even prepared Salmon with a japanese sauce which she thought was excellent, but she loved the asparagus the best.
We're all tired from driving and 18 miles from home traffic stops in Illinois. Dead stop. I mean, I put the car in park for 5 minutes and we still had not moved in the fast lane. So I decided the next exit to turn around and head back up 55 to 270 and loop around to get to the city. This took awhile and we arrived an hour and a half late to dinner. Fuck Illinois. Illinois drivers also have no regard for speed limits. It's posted 65 and I was still getting passed going 85, regularly, Natsumi would not let me drive faster since she didn't want to get pulled over. All of the cops were concentrated in one area, around Springfield. In 20 minutes, I saw two speed traps, and 10 police cars. I had seen only two before near Chicago travelling towards chicago and 4 on our way up to Chicago at 6am this morning. WTF?
Natsumi and her mom just left my place about 30 minutes ago, still very tired from their travels. I hope she can stay awake long enough to make it home and to call me when she gets there, but she needed to get more gas, even though she went 334 miles and still had a quarter of a tank. I can't wait for her to come back with her mom, but I got called into work on Sunday so now I'm super fucking pissed because I was going to go to the botanical gardens with them. My job sucks.
Long story short. The families have met and it seems like it was a good experience. I hate Illinois, and I hate driving in Illinois even more. I will never go to chicago again, unless I am not driving. My job still sucks. Natsumi is still wonderful.
"An old man dies, a young girl lives, fair trade." - Bruce Willis from Sin City.
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