Saturday, March 24, 2007
Party and gifts and sunshine
We went to a pizza party for the vernal equinox, which is a national holiday in Japan. The party was held by our neighbors Chuck and Yoko, whose house we had gone to for the mochi making party at christmas. He is the principal of a small school, and her father is a well-known sculptor. The word that comes to mind when I think of them is solid. They are gentle, kind, generous, but also very solid and rooted. We like them, and they have been very welcoming to us. Part of my perception of this may be that I am used to "big city" hospitality, which has a different feeling to it. This is a kind of "suburban" hospitality, which I haven't experienced as much of.
In any event, about the pizza party: click to expand/contract
After the party, we rushed to see Nakajima-san, because his country and western band was having a concert. below is the charming rendition of "You Are My Sunshine".click to expand/contract
All in all, a nice day.
In any event, about the pizza party: click to expand/contract
After the party, we rushed to see Nakajima-san, because his country and western band was having a concert. below is the charming rendition of "You Are My Sunshine".click to expand/contract
All in all, a nice day.
Labels: life in japan
permalink posted at
8:31:00 AM 
Apparently they have been at this for a few years. They have this very neat way of constructing a home-made brick oven, and the pizza cooks in about a minute. I took a turn at the till, and it was quite fun. We also talked to quite a long time to chuck's parents. One other thing about chuck is that he is very nice looking. And the same holds true for his parents. Very nice looking. His dad is in his 80's, but quite healthy; apparently he is still a bit of a lush, and he also likes to play golf. He was a car salesman, and had a big success introducing Corvettes (I think it was) to Japan. He spoke a smattering of english, and was quite charming. The best story was about his wife locking him out of the house when he came home late after a secret night of drinking.
She on the other was more sweetness and light. She brought some spring pickles for us to try, and showed us some calligraphy that she did, and invited us to her exhibition. She took all his impishness with grace and charm.
Speaking of calligraphy, after that, our other neighbor, Diane, offered us a scanner/printer and an external hard drive. I had been sort of thinking about needing a scanner, because I wanted to scan in the "calligraphy signature" that Nakajima-san, our elderly artist friend, had generously made for me. I want to use it for my "meishi", or business card. Japanese hold meishi in great reverence, and it is about time I made one.