The Thirsty Dead
So I met up with the aforementioned new client tonight. To my surprise, this "school" consists of my boss's friend's three grandsons endeavouring to learn English in their living room; like a private, only I don't get my extra $40/hour. whaa!As it turned out, the kids (ages 3, 5, & 8) were cute and very smart; they picked up "hello, how are you today?" "I'm fine, thank you;" "What's your name?" "My name is ____;" and the ABC's in 50 minutes flat. Afterwards I was invited to stay for dinner to celebrate Grandpa's 69th birthday.
The dinner was excellent and thankfully the ladies didn't throw in too much crazy Japanese food... in fact, they seemed to prepare many of the suspiciously Western dishes especially for me. Interestingly, one party partaking in the meal was not actually a tableguest...
Many Japanese Buddhists (?) have shrines to honour their deceased loved ones in their homes... I did not realize that these shrines are treated similarly to those in the graveyards. Here's what happened: the men dispensed some beer (from the TAP in the dining room) for themselves, and then a little cupfull was placed on the shrine. Next, birthday cake was handed to the guest (me), then to the dead, then to the hosts. Finally, the men helped themselves to some sake, but not before filling a small glass for those who weren't with us. Sooooo weird!!
One for me, one for the dead; one for you, one for the dead.
(N.B. please note that I am not judging, I actually thought these practises very interesting, I simply want to share this facet of Japanese culture with those of you at home!)
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