Japanese hospitality

Man, some people here! Our neighbor Keiko and her daughter Minori had Shyla and me over for lunch last week. It was amazing!!! First we ate...I think they were nervous we wouldn't like their food, because they made about 10 things! We had like a sandwich bar with pita bread and taco meet, ham, and a million other sauces/vegetables/Japanese things. It was actually great, and I am the most picky eater I've ever met, so it was great. And then we had tea. They took us into this special room, where they usually only eat for New Year's I think. They had one of these really cool heaters (I forget what it's called) where you sit at the little table, and it's heated underneath. A blanket/table cloth thing keeps the warm air inside. So we had tea and dessert in this quaint little room while the snow was falling outside and you could see it in the window. We looked at some baby albums of Midori and heard Keiko tell a story to practice her English (she practiced the intonation and everything by listening to tapes!) Then we went into yet another room and heard both of our hostesses play the piano. Keiko is a piano teacher and is so amazingly talented...and of course she teaches her talented daughter. I could not ask for cooler neighbors!