Actually, Ikoma is pronounced ick-oh-ma, but it was close enough to merit a pun title (‘Nara, here I come!’ in case you missed it).
I do so love a pun – my favourite is “The eyes (ayes) have it”. Beautiful.
So here I am in Ikoma! I have my own room, a laptop, which has kept me on facebook pretty much every day, and I feel very much a part of the family. For those of you who don’t know me that well – I actually am part of the family, but have only met my uncle’s mother – I call her obaa-chan, an endearment along the lines of ‘Grandma’ - once before, and have never spent so much concentrated time with my uncle and aunt. It’s wonderful! I sincerely hope they feel the same.
Ah, yes… to have family in Japan! Life is expensive in terms of trains, the money practically teleports itself from my wallet into the ticket vending machine every time I walk past. I barely see the stuff. What’s the currency again? ¥en, right? Thank goodness I don’t have to fork out a fortune on accommodation.
