Meanwhile, in Nagoya

While nervously awaiting the arrival of my sons Will and Ben, I visited my friend Carrie in Nagoya. Carrie and I have been good friends since she hosted me as an exchange student in 1990. She was 28 at the time; I was 20. We went to Osukannon, a temple complex in Nagoya city. There, we saw a manzai (sit-down comic) performance by Kairakutei Black (Pleasurable Black), a half-Japanese, half-American performer. Born in Japan in 1952 (probably the son of a soldier, who then left the country), he speaks only Japanese. In fact, he speaks Japanese at the pace of an auctioneer- I didn't understand most of his monologue, which was something about having his camera stolen by another actor. The stars-and-stripes kimono is a nice touch!

After enjoying Black and three other actors (a juggler, an accordian and guitar duo, and another sit-down comic) on the stage of a small, old-fashioned theater, we payed our respects at Osukannon temple, where I unsuspectingly bought a dish of rice grains to feed to the pigeons. WHAT A MISTAKE! I was clawed within an inch of death. Pigeons on my bare arms; pigeons on my shoulders! Pigeons on my head! (Multiple pigeons on my head!) By the time the dish was empty, my upper torso was covered with red scratches. The photo doesn't do it justice! Carrie noted that one pigeon came early, sprawled himself all over the dish, and got most of the rice.

To recover from my terrifying experience, we stopped at a Japanese sweet shop, where Carrie chose the dessert pictured: a green tea slushie! As you can see, Japanese size does not necessarily mean small.