Dining With the Wrestlers

I promised myself I would jump in feet first when I got to Japan, get all the adventure I possibly could. So far, I think I've done pretty well. Just look it all the posts I've written! Seriously, I'm waiting for the day when I don't have any new adventures. Then my post will dissolve into how my classes went and what I ate for lunch.... I really hope that doesn't happen.

Anyway! I had to turn paperwork into the manager on Friday. And, while I was asking her a few questions (like how to figure out the induction stove) she brought up and invitation from the owner of the apartment. Apparently, he had an 'in' with the sumo wrestlers. Yeah, sumo wrestlers. There was a recent tournament in Tokyo, and he had an invitation to join them at their celebration banquet. Three of us were invited to go. So, I went to eat dinner with sumos last night.

 

I thought that the Japanese were supposed to be small, I don't understand the anomaly of these guys being huge! Well, some of them are from Mongolia so maybe that plays a factor. Still, big guys. But the grandmother across from me told me that I shouldn't worry about them; that they were all a bunch of big teddy bears. Somehow, I got all that even though she didn't speak a lick of English. In fact, most of the people at the event didn't speak English. Which meant I got to practice my very limited Japanese. I think my phrase of the night was "I don't drink alcohol". Because, let me tell you, that this banquet was really an exscuse for everyone to get drunk. There was beer, and sake, and wine. And all the little old men's faces were red by the end of the evening.

 

Guess who our servers were. That's right, the sumo wrestlers. They are surprisingly nimble for such big guys. Here all were, sitting on the floor, and I don't think there was one accident all night long. And they were very diligent hosts. If a sumo wrestler ever asks  to take your bowl, be forewarned that he will bring you back another full of soup. And even though my Japanese wasn't very good, they were all super friendly. When one realized that I didn't drink, he brought me a cup of water. And they complimented my use of chopsticks. And they asked where we were from a lot. But, it was a great experience! I'm really glad I went. The owner of Azalea said that the next sumo tournament in Tokyo will be in January, and he promised he would try and get tickets for Azalea. That would be fun!