U.S. Embassy Friendship Day

I LOVE to people watch. I goggle as far as my eyes will take me. I peer at people’s food plates. I spy how they click with others. I peek into their lives. The more people I see, the better.

So when we recently visited the U.S. Embassy compound for Friendship Day, I was captivated by five thousand Japanese people that wanted to spend their Saturday with Americans.The U.S. Embassy compound was open to the public, and the admission line was blocks long.

We strolled down Main Street USA and I side-glanced people armed with food. Many Japanese people loaded paper lunch plates with steaming hot dogs and hamburgers. Main Street was lined with many American regional foods. But the most popular lunch amongst the Japanese were hot dogs and hamburgers. I snagged a picture of a Japanese woman and her plate.

And I announced to Dr. Romance I had to have me a hot dog. Grilled dogs over smoky charcoal are so rare these days! They are SO superior to gas grilled hot dogs. I like my hot dogs old school.

Do you know what else made my day? When we found a sea of these hot little boxes. I had no idea that Krispy Kreme has a huge market in Japan, and many store fronts. We grabbed ourselves a baker’s dozen, along with a slew of other folks.

The boys caught eye of some hero action and walked right  up.  Ohhh to be a little man and insist on hero work!  The Japanese firefighters did not speak much English but they got the boys to spray the extinguishers at a fire target. I glimpsed at the firefighters’ shoes. They wore plain black oxfords. I could not remember what shoes American firefighters wear, but I knew they don’t wear black oxfords.

On the lawn many Japanese families picnicked, waiting patiently for the grandstand. I was drawn to their “picnic culture.” Every family, and I mean every family, whipped out tarps folded the size of printer paper. The mats colored the grass with different themes. They spread them out, and no one wore their shoes on any mats.

I was also charmed by these miniature coffee tables, like the two below. I kept wondering how far these men, like others that day, carried these little tables just for this picnic.

The Taiko drummers lured our entire family. Taiko literally means large drum and is a three percussion instrument. The drums are strung tight, and they have a different pitch based on their size. At one point there may have been as many as 40 drummers on stage, playing different sized drums, playing inspiring pieces. The energy was engaging.

The drummers danced and chanted in sync. They switched positions and drums in a warrior like way. The energy was contagious.

We had one other favorite performance, the Sesame Street cast. I tried to remember the words to their Japanese songs so I could ask a Japanese speaker to translate. But alas, I forgot! I had no idea what they were singing, but I can tell you that Elmo and friends are truly bilingual. The Japanese characters sounded exactly like the English speaking characters. They even had the same monster accents!

And since Dr. Romance volunteered as backstage security for Elmo, we were able to get a paparazzi shot!

Friendship Day was a beautiful intermixing of American and Japanese culture. The boys enjoyed the carnival games, and I enjoyed a gander at Japanese customs, up close and personal.