Debbiedo

Bushido (the Way of the Warrior), Sado (the Way of Tea), Shodo (the Way of Calligraphy).  Debbiedo (the Way of Photography) or missed photos, that is.   My family jokes about how I do not take many photos; I live in the moment.  Again, I missed a great photo opp.      

Last evening a party was held in a tatami room to honor Doug's arrival as a visiting faculty and celebrate the successful defense of a student's PhD.  As is the tradition, an after-hours work party was held to honor special occasions.  Today they are usually held in a local restaurant but for this occasion, they opened the department's special tatami mat room.  

Before stepping up onto the raised tatami mat floor (made of rice straw) we took off our shoes.  Some guests properly pointed them toward the exit door. (Note: I am very glad for slip-on shoes!)   Low rectangular tables circled the room with floor cushions placed around.  Discussion was underway about where to seat the guests according to levels of seniority.  The issue was where to place me.  Apparently there was concern that I might be offended if not seated at the table of honor where Doug was supposed to sit but there were not enough cushions at the table.   In the end, Doug sat at the honored-guest table and I sat at the table with most-senior faculty members.  

The center of the room was filled with all kinds of delicious sushi and delicate Japanese delights, along with Domino's Pizza.  Apologies were made that the pizza was not as good as Domino's in the U.S.   I assured them that I rarely eat pizza anyway, that I prefer Japanese foods.  Soon speeches commenced beginning with Doug's.  Afterwards the eating and drinking began.  Lots of wine was available, including varieties of sake (rice wine) and plum wine (sold at the local Shinto shrine where students go to pray for good examination scores.)   Though my legs cramped and I broke the proper way for ladies to sit--kneeling (seiza), I relaxed and assumed a more comfortable side-ways recline.  Conversations were delightful.

The young woman who successfully defended her thesis came to have a talk with me.  She was flushed with excitement and very animated, eager to share stories about life in our respective countries.  She admitted that she did not pay attention to high school HISTORY lessons because, she said, "they did not matter for my university entrance exams."   Science was her chosen field and therefore she would not study the humanities at the university.   She asked about the history of St. Louis, Mizoooree.  I gave her a mini-lesson on its geography and the Lewis and Clark expedition's attempt to find an all-water route to China.  (Japan was still closed to Westerners at the time.)   She knew about the Arch but not what it symbolized.  She also knew about the California Gold Rush.  Then it was her turn to tell me about the long history of her hometown, Kamakura.  Many stories were shared before the evening wound down.  Everyone pitched in with clean-up and soon we were on the subway for the ten-stop ride home.