The Mangums’ Visit
Will’s parents came all the way from Texas to visit him for a while. The word on the street is that his brother might visit too. I hope he does. Anyway, back to the story. Before I went to Nametoko to participate in the English camp, I was able to spend 2 great days with them. On the evening of the day they arrived, we had a yakiniku (grilled meat) enkai (drinking party) for them as a welcoming party. We did it at the same restaurant that I talked about before - the spot directly next to the police department. Remember? That was great fun. Then, after securing last minute leave from school during the Pirate Race (after the first round or two) from the Vice Principal, I was able to go off on an adventure to the Asahi Brewery in Saijo with Will, his parents, and three of his coworkers from elementary school teachers. We had a load of fun. We toured first, then went to a sampling cafe where we were told that we could drink for 20 minutes. The guide even said, “Officially we’re allowed to give you up to three pints per person…but unofficially, we don’t keep count.” Ha ha. So, after most of us had 3 pints in 20 minutes, we went to dinner. Surprisingly…it was also all you can drink. Had we known that, the time limit would not have been so intimidating. Ha ha. We were kind of out of it by the time we finished up on the massive shabu-shabu meal that we ate. Afterward we went to karaoke in Imabari for about an hour and a half before coming back to Hakata and parting ways immediately before conking out. Great times. And I still plan on visiting the Mangums in Texas when I’m back stateside. They’re good people!