On to the coast

Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Miyako and checked into a quaint hotel downtown. Though we aren't to present at a Rotary meeting until Friday night, we had a reception with about 30 people. They are so sweet, trying as hard as they can to communicate in English.

It takes some work on both party's ends, and much of the night we all had our dictionaries out. One guy was trying to tell me that there is a comedian in Japanese theater named Yosem Ite, like our national park, At first I thought he was asking if I worked in Yosemite. Then I thought he saw Yosemite in the theater. Finally I realized what he was saying, and even now, I don't have full confidence that that's what it was.


After dinner, a few of them brought us to a tiny bar near our hotel. The bartender made up these teal blue cocktails that had a grapefruit essence. In each of them, he had carved a sea creature out of grapefruit skin with remarkable accuracy. There was a fish, a sea horse, a dragon, and some others. His specialty was an apple that he carved the center from and mixed a drink the cup the skin creates. On the surface of the drink, he drew cherry trees and blossoms.


Lesson learned: A 15 minute wait is worth it for a cocktail here.