visit to Osaka

Yesterday we took the train and then a subway ride into Osaka and explored the very busy shopping area called Shinsaibashi. Parts were gaudy and 'downscale' while other streets were full of very expensive stores. The atmosphere on the street reminded me a little of parts of Shanghai....busy consumerism. Kris took me into a store which caters to all kinds of dancers and I saw young Japanese girls standing on point, testing out new pink silk ballet shoes...on another floor we ogled and fingered the most garish of ballroom dance costumes costing thousands of dollars. Back on the street, again I was amazed at the number of women wearing black leggings, lacy black pantyhose, ruffly skirts and very high heels...Kris says disparagingly, "very fashionable.... back in 1983!" Even women on bikes are sporting these high heels. I bought some hand-painted cards from one of the few stores selling traditional Japanese textiles and paper fans. Most of the stores were selling cheaply made clothes, probably from China, for too much money. I took pictures of a couple of girls dressed in little Bo Peep type costumes-apparently this is a fashion here among some girls. (I hope to post some pics soon as soon as I can buy the connecting device to download my camera to Kris' computer). We watched a Japanese band playing very authentic Scottish and Irish music on a street corner to an appreciative audience and then went into El Pancho to meet Kris' expat friends over traditional Japanese burritos, enchiladas, nachos and yuzu margharitas. (Yuzu is a Japanese fruit and I must say it makes a damn good margharita.)

Today Kris hosted the monthly meeting of her book club. We had an interesting discussion of a Japanese novel called "The Doctor's Wife", set in the 18th century, based on the true story of the first doctor who experimented with and developed the use of anesthetic during surgery. In the story both his wife and mother, who have a difficult relationship, vie to be the first human subjects of his experiments (he had previously experimented on dogs). It seems that the mother/daughter-in-law relationship is tricky no matter where in the world one is from, according to the experience of Kris' Japanese and foreign friends! Although the translation was considered skillful, according to the Japanese readers, many details and subtlety was missing from the English version. We had a feast of Turkish and Indian dishes, homemade bread, guava paste someone brought from Mexico and Kris' delicious honey pecan oatmeal bars washed down by Japanese beer.....or the special tea someone brought.

Having a lazy evening...oh it's so wonderful to have nothing particular to do, especially no grading!!!!