Uncomfortable Situations

Wow this last weekend in Japan had a few uncomfortable situations. The weekend started off quite normally until it was a little past 3am Saturday morning and we were going hard in the local izakaiya and eventually made it home safely around 4:30am. I had been informed previously of an occasion this Saturday that sometime during the afternoon we were going to a family gathering to commemorate my host mothers, grandmothers death, three years previous. The event was actually taking place simply inside her father's house, I only realized this once we arrived. So many language barriers make simple details like that quite frustrating at times. Anyways we arrived around three o'clock and soon after the ceremony began. Inside the house among myself and almost 15 other relatives, ranging in ages from 2-late 70's, was a local priest who was seated in front of a small shrine. This was more than interesting however, since I am still unaccustomed to sitting on the floor for an extended period of time after a while I began to become too uncomfortable to enjoy the ceremony. After the burning of incense, chants and prayers we finally got too eat. However starting to really feel the effects from my previous night at the local izakaiya I became less comfortable. So far the food in Japan has been great, although I had barely eaten sushi before I came I have really liked it since I arrived, unfortunately after a long night of drinking I found out my appetite for raw fish quickly depleted. I soon was faced with an entire sampler dish of every type of raw seafood they serve in Japan. There were maybe three things on the entire platter that were cooked. I really felt embarrassed not too finish my entire meal. Lets hope next time my family surprises me with a feast of fresh sushi, I am not hungover.