The first bit of serendipity occurred when I was on the train going home from work and a guy sat next to me with a lanyard around his neck which read "Ohio State." I'm not one to usually accost strangers, especially in a foreign country, but when he pulled out his cell phone and it, too, had an Ohio State strap (hanging accessory), I had to ask him his connection to OSU. So we talked during the 5 minute or so train ride about how he and his wife had lived in Findlay, Ohio for almost 4 years while he worked for a Japanese company in Upper Sandusky. We both got off at the same station and it turns out we live a literal stone's throw away from each other. We exchanged email addresses. He wants to keep up his English and I want to practice Japanese so we decided to get together.
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The first time we got together, he and his wife met Yumi and me for coffee. Today, just he and I met for breakfast at McDonald's. As it turned out, his 70-something father rode his bike up to get coffee. (I think everyone here has a bicycle). He told us he was heading to a local elementary school where his wood carving was displayed at a local art fair and said we should join him. Incidentally, my new friend lives with his wife and mother-in-law next door to his father and mother. So we walked over with him and saw the wood carving and the rest of the fair (it was all contained in the school's gym). Then he asked if we wanted to attend the Japanese Tea Ceremony that the school was holding upstairs.
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I had wanted to see a Japanese Tea Ceremony since I first visited Japan in 2005 but never seemed to get the opportunity, so I was quite happy to accept the offer. It was done by a local middle school club, so it wasn't the most professional tea ceremony, but
I got the gist of it. It was, well, very ceremonial. The only thing that really "happens" is that the guests (7 in our case), get served a snack and tea. But it took about 20 minutes because everything seemed to happen in slow motion and with great care, not to mention bowing about 10 times. Twenty minutes sitting on my knees was an eternity. The whole thing was a bit confounding, but interesting nonetheless. I have a feeling that Kabuki will result in a similar "huh?" experience. I can now check it off my list and look forward to the next cultural encounter. Note to self: heed the Lonely Planet's advice to never wear holey socks in Japan as you never know when you'll be taking your shoes off.
