K: So, lately I’ve been thinking about my friends and how international all my friends are. Like, I have friends from… all over the world – and it was the same in the United States. I think because it’s a school that Rasta went to; like, all of our friends – very few of our friends were American born.

C: Yeah, I think so. It was kind of the school for foreign people.

K: Yeah. And I’ve noticed here in Nagoya – almost none of my friends are American born.

C: Yeah, I’m thinking. Yeah, I have a few friends born in the U.S., but for the most part, my friends were born in other places. And mostly not in Japan. The ones who are born in Japan tend to have traveled extensively outside of Japan.

K: Yeah, and so… I find it really interesting because I know that Nagoya is thought of as “inaka” but for me – like deep countryside like a factory town – I think historically it has been a factory town, but… that industry has brought – because there is so much industry in Nagoya, because there are so many factories in Nagoya – there’s a lot of international people. And then, too, we have so many universities in the city of Nagoya. I think we have like over a hundred universities in Nagoya?

C: Yeah. That might be if you include all of them. I think the number is in the 50s for research universities.

K: Yeah.

C: But yeah, and most of them will have… something like… an acceleration incubator or – they call them different things – but they’re units set up to… help people… do business while at the university or vice versa. Access researchers from businesses.

K: Well and for example, the Aichi Cancer Center is one of the world’s leading cancer research centers. And then there’s… another – I forget the name of it – but there’s a chemical company that’s one of the number one compound mixture companies. Not like… not like warfare chemicals but just like whenever you need something – whether it be paint or whether it be to remove paint or cleaning solvent or an oil to lubricate machines or whatever. Those are all chemical compounds that need to be mixed.

C: I know of three different companies that do that just here in Nagoya, and then Nagoya University has an entire material science research center.

K: Yeah.

C: That was mostly paid for by the inventor of blue LEDs.

K: Yeah.

C: And so, the campus has a lot of blue LEDs on the campus and on the campanile – on the tower on campus in honor of that. Because they got a donation of a hundred million dollars or something to start the – I think it’s the Nozomi Center for Advanced Materials.

K: Yeah. So, we have a lot of international students from around the world. And then we have a lot of international… employees from around the world because of Japan’s change in visa – we talked about it before – where they let factory… different countries, you can qualify now for a visa for a factory worker or domestic work. So, I find that I have friends from… all parts of the globe. Like, literally – I’m trying to think of a region… and the funny thing is I have a friend that’s been to Antarctica, but they’re not from Antarctica because no one’s from Antarctica.

C: Yeah, no one’s – I was just thinking that, “nobody’s from there, but”

K: Yeah. So, I have… both of the poles. So, I think…

C: Are you counting me as the North Pole?

K: No, I’m not counting you as the North Pole.

C: Okay.

K: Because I do know someone else from, like – that has actually been to the North Pole. I don’t know that you’ve actually been to the North Pole.

C: I have not actually been to the North Pole – because there’s three of them. I have not actually been to any of them because, when I was… a kid, we set out to drive there. To the geographic North Pole, which is in Alaska, and my parents got bored or whatever and turned around before we got there.

K: We met that one couple. One of them had been to the North Pole.

C: Yeah.

K: That couple we met at that – so, in Sakae, which is like the city center in Nagoya, there’s Oasis 21.

C: Sakae is – yeah. Sakae is the Ginza of… of Nagoya.

K: Yeah. Where like… the Times Square?

C: Yeah.

K: What would it be for San Francisco? Something more relevant to us.

C: For San Francisco, it would be Marcus Street.

K: What would it be for San Jose?

C: I think for San Jose…

K: Like, the Pruneyard, Valley Fair area…

C: Yeah, I think it would be the Valley Fair, Santana Row area.

K: Yeah. At least, Santana Row 20 years ago. Like, we’re so out of date.

C: Like after the first time that it burnt down when they rebuilt it.

K: It didn’t burn down. It did burn down while we were there. That’s right.

C: Yeah.

K: So, after – yeah. So, just a high-end shopping district.

C: Yes.

K: So, like Union Square in San Francisco – high end shopping district. And it has all kinds of nightlife, and it’s really big and bustley. And so,

C: It has a Ferris wheel. Does your high-end shopping district have a Ferris wheel?

K: Most of them do around the world these days.

C: I know. It’s so sad.

K: At least, in Japan they always do.

C: Yeah, in Japan, they do.

K: Like, you know you’re in the shopping district if there’s a big, giant Ferris wheel.

C: Yes.

K: Which I don’t understand the relationship between being in automatic, slow moving… city center view Ferris wheel. I’ve gone on it – I’m terrified of heights, which I’m not ashamed of. And no, I don’t need any sort of exposure therapy to get over it. I’m afraid of heights because my mother was afraid of heights, and she taught me to be afraid of heights. So, my brother was a thrill seeker, and he loved to go – one of my brothers – and he loved to go on high things. And my mother was terrified of him being kidnapped because she’d lost a child to kidnap. And so, she was like, “okay. We have to go – he wants to go on this thing. We have to go with him.” And I always thought, “who is kidnapping a kid off a roller coaster?”

C: Okay. That is just, like, an action movie kind of… thing.

K: Yeah, that’s like – hey if they’re doing all of that, they’re getting the kid.

C: Okay. And then they’re calling for ransom, and your mom could be like, “I have specific set of skills” because it’s a movie.

K: Yeah. It is. So, we would go on these rides, and she would be terrified, and she would cling to me and whisper the most horrifying ways we could die into my ear.

C: (laughs)

K: And mind you, there’s a 5-year difference – 5 years’ age difference

C: Between you and your brother, not between you and your mother

K: Yeah. So, my brother’s 10. I’m 5. She grabs the 5-year-old and whispers how we’re going to die. So, I have all these horrific things in my mind about how you can die from high places. And I enjoy the experience of falling.

C: Mhm.

K: But I don’t enjoy the experience of climbing.

C: Mm.

K: And so, I don’t like when the ride is going up, but I enjoy when the ride is coming down. So, that’s just a weird tic in my brain that mommy gave me. And… I was – so, I’ve been on all of these… Ferris wheels and such because I was determined that Rasta wouldn’t be afraid of heights.

C: In my mind, I call them “the wheels of commerce.”

K: The wheels of commerce.

C: (laughs)

K: And so, I went on it with Rasta, and the whole time I’m telling him why he shouldn’t be afraid.

C: Yeah.

K: And like

C: That’s about as helpful.

K: And it’s super helpful. I’m like, “you shouldn’t – there’s no way that this wheel is going to pop off and go rolling down the street like you would see in a cartoon. That’s ludicrous. Nobody would do that. You’re completely safe. This is super safe. Like, you can jump up and down. You can run and throw yourself at the wall of it, but please don’t. Don’t ever do that because every once in a while, people pop through. But if you sit calmly and just enjoy the ride, you’re safe.”

C: Yeah.

K: And the same thing with like – with airplanes. I’m like, “this is cool. We’re safe. Everything’s gravy.” Like, even when there’s really bad turbulence, I’m like, “see, the air masks aren’t coming down. We’re completely fine. And if the air mask does come down, that’s no big deal. Mommy’s going to give you yours, and you’re a great swimmer.” And no matter what – no matter sort of aerial thing we were in, I always was like, “it’s all gonna be good.”

C: And he completely slept through the time we were in the middle of the storm, and a guy was threatening to open the door and throw his wife out the door, and

K: That was a chaotic flight.

C: (laughs)

K: That flight was

C: Very chaotic.

K: Just… wow. The stewardesses – it was truly terrifying.

C: Yes.

K: Because he was hammered, and he wanted to throw his wife off the plane because he made his – him and his wife were flying first class, and his mistress was flying coach. And if he threw his wife off the plane, his mistress could fly first class with him.

C: Yeah.

K: That was his whole… thing. And I was like, “why not just have them trade seats?”

C: Mhm.

K: Like… and so, the wife did this really weird thing to call him down. She played dead.

C: (laughs) I didn’t see that part because I was aware of it, but I was

K: I was awake and terrified the whole time.

C: Yeah.

K: She just went limp and played dead. And I was like, smart – so, she’s been down this road before. And then the stewardesses were like, “she’s dead. She’s dead.” And they put her down on the ground, and they were trying to resuscitate her and stuff. And then… she was like, “oh, what happened?” And I was like, wow girl. Your life is…

C: (laughs) Rough.

K: Yeah. Your life is not my life, and I am so happy for that.

C: Mhm.

K: So, thank you for not drinking way too much alcohol on flights.

C: You’re welcome.

K: I think they should’ve cut him off way before then.

C: Yeah, I think they should’ve. And this was back in like the early 2000s. It was

K: Yeah, so it was… pre- I don’t know what.

C: Pre-Department of Homeland Security, I think. Or at least before…

K: Mmm.

C: No, maybe not before the formation, but before… they got like really… strict about things. It was after 9-11, but it was before

K: No, I think people need to know that it – it is a completely set of rules for first-class passengers than there are for economy.

C: Yeah.

K: And a different set of rules – like, first, business, and economy. We’ve flown all three, and completely different set of rules. Whichever one we’re flying.

C: Yes.

K: Yeah. So… but that has nothing to do with Nagoya being a cosmopolitan – that was a cosmopolitan flight, and that was terrifying. But back to like the Ferris wheel: in Japan, all of the major shopping districts, I think most of them – not all of them – most of them have a Ferris wheel?

C: I think one in each city. And I don’t know if the city is like, “no, you can’t build another Ferris wheel.”

K: (laughs)

C: Because in Nagoya, there’s Sunshine Sakae, which is the one that has there Ferris wheel. But there are no other Ferris wheels downtown. But on days

K: And the Sunshine Sakae won ugle – ugliest Ferris wheel in the world once.

C: Did it?

K: Yeah.

C: It deserved it.

K: Yeah.

C: Like, good for them for winning.

K: Yeah, they won. And they were super proud of it.

C: But there’s another one that I’ve seen coming home from Tokyo. When I was working a couple of days a month working in Tokyo. That’s just outside of town – like, I don’t – 15, 20 miles outside of town. There’s another Ferris wheel. And it did not seem to be as ugly, but I’ve only seen it lit, so.

K: And then there was that one in – when we went to stay in Yokohama that you did not want to go to. And then there’s that one in – you don’t like Ferris wheels.

C: I don’t. No.

K: And I always feel like, “babe, we should go on the Ferris wheel.” And you’re like, “I don’t like them.” I feel like I’m willing to overcome this fear for you, so that you can enjoy this thing that you don’t like.

C: Yeah, that… that’s – the thing of it is if you said, “I love Ferris wheels. They’re my favorite thing ever to do” I would do them with you. But you’re like, “I am terrified of Ferris wheels, and I feel like we’re going to die, but if you agree with me to go on this, I will not whisper we’re going to die in your ear while we ride the Ferris wheel.”

K: I do not do that to you.

C: That’s what I’m saying you don’t do that to me.

K: But I’ve never whispered “we’re going to die” on anything other than an airplane.

C: No, you haven’t. That’s what I’m saying: and you promised me in advance that you’re not going to do it. You’ve never done it to me.

K: Yeah.

C: But on Ferris wheels, you tell me, “I will not whisper we’re going to die in your ear. If you want to ride”

K: So, I used to love Ferris wheels as a kid.

C: Mhm.

K: And then my mother would whisper shit in my ear.

C: Yeah.

K: Wormtongue that she was. So, this is like – I don’t – so, maybe we should move beyond Ferris wheels because they’re kind of like a dark tale.

C: Well, they kind of just like go around but don’t really go anywhere.

K: Yeah. Exactly. So… I encouraged you to join a lot of clubs. And I don’t know why I – I do know why I encourage you to join a lot of clubs. Because you need a lot of attention, and I don’t have the time and energy to give you the amount of attention that you need. And so, Chad needs to be adored for his intellect. And because I’m not a mathematician… I can’t properly… adore his math. Like, I can listen to it. I can tolerate it. I can entertain it. I can engage with it. I can talk about it. But I can’t, like… appreciate it.

C: Thank you. Thank you. It’s like an artist appreciating another artist.

K: Yeah. And so, like you can’t appreciate me as a therapist – well, one because you’re not in session.

C: Yeah, that’s a big one.

K: And two, I’m not your therapist. So… yeah. Nevermind. That’s completely incomparable. Although my therapist admires me as a therapist.

C: Mm.

K: So, that’s really quite nice.

C: And you do have quite a bit of knowledge about the brain that is not… relevant, directly, to therapy. Maybe you make it relevant – but that you can share in casual conversation.

K: Yeah.

C: You could be like, “oh, we’re having a casual conversation about the amygdala? Let me join in with my knowledge.”

K: (laughs) No, I love talking about brain maturation.

C: Mhm.

K: That’s just one of my favorite things. And, like, the human brain changes in microscopic ways over our lifetime. Our brain actually changes shape. And I love that. But it’s really microscopic ways. And our brain doesn’t fully develop – as our Musick Notes will know that have been paying attention to all of my brain geekery – that the brain doesn’t fully grown for women until about age 23. The pre-fontal cortex, the part that sits right above your eyes, and for men between – sometimes as late as 27. So, you don’t have your full brain until… between ages 25 and 27.

C: Mm. I didn’t know they had figured out it could extend up to 27.

K: Yeah.

C: I got a certificate at 16 that I was, like, fully brained.

K: (laughs) You were not. You were third bra – no, you had – I guess it would be… nine tenths?

C: Okay.

K: Like, a tenth of the brain is missing. I don’t know the percentages.

C: So, you’re saying they lied.

K: Yeah. So, now, do some math stuff. So, all the people who like – you know, we have a lot of Musick Notes who are mathematicians. So, do some math stuff and impress all of our math listeners.

C: Oh, okay.

K: (laughs)

C: Just like do some math stuff?

K: Yeah. He hates when I do this. He hates when I do this, but I can’t stop myself. It’s just (laughs) one of those wicked games we play. Yeah, and who

C: You make me feel this way. Okay.

(laughter)

K: I don’t want to fall in love with you.

C: That’s Chris Isaak, but

(laughter)

C: Yeah.

K: But it’s “the wicked things you do.”

C: Yeah.

(laughter)

K: Oh my gosh.

C: So, during my study, I studied low-dimensional topology. And then in my post-doc, I did graph theory. And the graph theory is probably more relevant to what I do now.

K: What is?

C: Graph theory.

K: Oh, yeah. I was hearing you say “gas” like g-a-s, and I – I don’t remember you studying gas.

C: No, I mean a little bit during physics, but not – not really. I… and so, the… one of the problems that I studied was if you have a necklace and the… it’s like a beaded necklace, and the links between the beads have different colors, and those colors have different costs, how cheaply can you make a necklace with a certain number of beads so that you can tell exactly what bead you’re looking at by looking at only the links next to that bead.

K: Is that the four color?

C: No, that’s not the four color.

K: Which one’s that?

C: The four color theorem is

K: No, which one were you just doing?

C: Oh, the one I was doing is called – is about the… coloring number of a… cyclic graphs.

K: So, the reason that this is relevant is because you had – right now, currently, I don’t know if you’re still in the group, but you had a group of international mathematicians that you guys used to go out to like dinners and lunches and stuff. And then you stopped – I think you stopped going out after that one time someone spilled something on you because you don’t like when people spill stuff on you.

C: Yeah, I don’t. So, it – I think I stopped going out because it became apparent to me that they were mostly reasons to go out and drink too much. And that’s not one of the things that I like doing. So, but – at work, I have other people who are well-versed in math, and we talk about it. So, I – I get that need met.

K: So, do you find that in this past year that your friendships have changed?

C: I think so. Because I think not everybody’s comfortable interacting online. And because Japan has never really shut down, a lot of people have just continued to do their in-person activities.

K: Yeah.

C: I think there were… six weeks or so that restaurants were asked voluntarily to close, and that the schools were shut. But people continued to meet – as we’re seeing in the Covid numbers now – and hang out and go drink – like, I just saw a thing at New Year’s where somebody was like, “we’re bringing down the house.” And you know, just a packed restaurant. And I’m just not about that. I’m about keeping myself and my family safe and not sick. But online, there’s a lot of people, so I think that my world has expanded with my job because… the company I work for is pretty well… diversified internationally.

There are people from all of the inhabited continents, excluding Antarctica, who work for the company and in a variety of different languages. And everybody speaks English, which makes it easy. But… so, yeah, I would say that my friendships have changed. And some of those people have left the company, but I continue to keep in contact with them.

K: So, I feel like… Nagoya has become more cosmopolitan. And… I feel like Nagoya has become more diverse and more… enriched. And more flavorful. And that… my friendships, subsequently, have become more diverse and more enriched and more flavorful. But because I’m a therapist in Nagoya, I don’t really have friends in Nagoya.

C: Yeah.

K: So, most of my friends live, like, in Osaka and Kobe and Tokyo and… Nara and Kyoto. So, I don’t find that – I don’t find those cities to be as diverse. Which is weird to me because it – if you just… like, take a snapshot, Tokyo seems like the most diverse part of Japan.

C: Well, Tokyo’s also so big. Tokyo has – between 30 and 40 percent of the population of Japan lives in Tokyo. So, Aichi – the state where we live – has the highest per capita number of people not born in Japan living here.

K: Yeah.

C: Like how if you look at the U.S., Miami is the most… non-American born city.

K: Yeah.

C: But it’s not necessarily diverse in Miami. You know, you’ve got large groups

K: Miami’s really diverse.

C: I know Miami’s really diverse at the individual levels, but I think that you’ve got large groups, like… the

K: Of Latinx?

C: Yeah. Cuban and Puerto Rican, specifically – a lot of Miami’s population.

K: There’s a lot of Venezuelan and Ecuadorians – at least

C: Right.

K: Of the people I know, it’s very diverse.

C: Yeah. So, I think that Nagoya is kind of odd in that most of the people who are… non-Japanese speak either Korean, Chinese, or English. There’s

K: In the people that you know?

C: Oh, the people that I know all speak English or are Japanese. I do speak Japanese with Japanese people.

K: Yeah.

C: And I think population-wise, Portuguese is more prevalent than English in Aichi.

K: So, you’re basically saying that you don’t have a personal life in Nagoya.

C: Exactly.

K: So, your personal life is where?

C: My personal life at the moment is online. Because I don’t leave the apartment very much.

K: Yeah.

C: And… the people that I went to university with – the professors are still there, but the students graduated, and most of them have moved on. Some of them found positions locally, but most of them have moved elsewhere. But I think Tokyo is just so big… that you say, like – I think in terms of absolute numbers, there are more… English speakers not born in Japan in Tokyo than here. But they’re spread out over a much, much bigger area.

K: Yeah. I find that… like… if you – so, when I look at the diversity in Nagoya, most of it is research for my clients.

C: Yeah.

K: If I’m honest. Because I don’t so – as I said, I don’t socialize in Nagoya. And I was looking – I was tripping out on like, there’s this app called Meetups Japan. It’s Meetups. It’s everywhere. It’s global. But Meetups Nagoya has like over 78 different groups speaking in 4 different languages.

C: Mhm.

K: Where like the languages I saw were – there was a Vietnamese group, there was an English group, a Spanish group, and a Portuguese group. And – oh, more than that. Because there’s also the fifth – there’s Japanese-language based groups as well.

C: Yes.

K: And I know that there is… a Lao PDR group, and I know that there’s also a Thai group.

C: Mhm.

K: But they’re not – I don’t think the Lao PDR group, or the Thai group are on Meetups. I don’t know. I’d have to doublecheck. And there’s also a really large trans community here in Nagoya. I don’t know, really large might be overstating it, but we have a LGBTQ pride parade every year.

C: Yes.

K: And it’s pretty active and pretty happening. And we have several LGBTQ bars here. And one of the sadder things – I’ve talked about this before – I think it’s sad that the drag queens can’t get tipped. Because it’s just not a tipping culture. I’m like, poor queens don’t make no coin, so they’re just doing it for the love of drag. And… so, all of that is still kind of going on a little bit but not as much. And… because Japan isn’t online – but then I found it that HelloTalk and Facebook are hosting, like, virtual events now.

C: Mhm.

K: For these various groups. So, I think it’s kind of cool. I think of Nagoya as being really hip and really cosmopolitan, but everybody’s like, “Nagoya? Eww. That’s small town. That’s like small time.” And I find that new people that come in, they’re like… “wow, I really wish that I was in Osaka or Kobe.”

C: I think it could be very isolating to be here working for one of the big companies because the… the industry in Nagoya, I think, is not very welcoming. There’s a saying about, “if you’re in Nagoya, you either have connections, or you have nothing.”

K: Mm.

C: So, I think that the – the social scene, if you’re willing to mix with people who are not at your company, is quite vibrant.

K: Yeah.

C: And there’s a lot of art museums and all – all kinds of other… quote unquote “culture.”

K: Yeah.

C: That if you just take what’s offered by a company that brings you in to work for them, that’s very isolating.

K: Yeah.

C: But when I was at… the university, I talked to people who are – like, my post-doc advisor had been in the U.S. in a company… enclave – a Japanese company. Her husband had worked for the Japanese company, but she had been in the U.S. with him, and she said there was nobody not Japanese unless she made the effort to leave the kind of bubble that the company tried to create.

K: Yeah.

C: And I think that happens here, too. That they… the companies create bubbles where, okay, you can meet all of the English speakers who work for your same company.

K: I think it’s the expectation. A lot of people come – come in with the expectation that there’s going to be an expat bubble for them to live in.

C: Right.

K: And that they’re going to like the people in that bubble, and that they’re going to come over as a group, and that group is going to – to gel and all like each other. And what I find is that the people that I meet don’t actually enjoy the people in their bubble.

C: Yeah.

K: And I always encourage them, “get out the bubble. Get out the bubble.” Because I know that, when we first came here – well, the very first time, I came by myself. And the language school that I was at tried to keep me in the language school bubble.

C: Right.

K: And tried to make me be friends with people at the language school.

C: And tried to make you be friends at the language school who didn’t speak English so that you would be forced to speak Japanese with other people who also didn’t speak Japanese.

K: Yeah. So, I just went up to the board – there was this board of people who wanted to speak English.

C: Mhm.

K: And I made my own bubble.

C: Yes.

K: And – but I’m very much that. That’s who I am. I’m very much like, “if I want something, I’m going to create it if it doesn’t exist.” And so, my agency and autonomy is such that I kind of believe I can create anything I want socially. You just have to have the will and the drive to do it. And that helps my clients out a lot – my attitude about it. Because I have all these resources, and I’m like, “try this. Try this, try this, try this.”

C: Right.

K: And they’re like, “okay. We’re now at the point where we’re ready to face that we don’t actually want to do anything because we’re depressed.” And I’m like, cool. Now we can deal with that depression. And the fact that they don’t like Japan.

C: Yeah. And I think Tokyo, it takes people longer to come to that decision about whether they like Japan or not because I think they have a bigger bubble centered around things that are not the company. Like, there’s the Tokyo-American club. Which every once in a while, they email us that we should join. Like, “you should join.”

K: They’re super expensive. You’ve got grip if you belong to – but then a lot of companies will pay for you to belong to

C: Exactly because the memberships are

K: The Tokyo-American club.

C: Yeah. It’s like fifteen thousand dollars to join. And then ten thousand dollars a year.

K: So, I’m flattered every time they reach out to me.

C: Right?

K: I’m like, “thank you for thinking I have that kind of coinage.”

C: Okay.

K: I don’t. Not ashamed of it.

C: Like when Twitter shows us hundred-thousand-dollar watches. “You might be interested in that.” No. I’m not interested in that.

K: Yeah, like lately YouTube has been showing me Omega Watch commercials, and one of the watches that they keep showing me has ten carats of diamonds.

C: We looked that one up, and that was like two hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.

K: Yes. For one, I would not feel comfortable wearing a two hundred- and fifteen-thousand-dollar watch. I would think somebody is gonna mug me. And we had this instance where I was like – I was wearing a string of pearls, and we were walking to the theater, and I’m like, “okay. We’re gonna die. Someone’s gonna kill us for this jewelry that I’m wearing.”

C: We were in the theater district in San Francisco, which is not the most savory place in San Francisco.

K: Yeah, it was very very unsavory. And I was like, “this is not safe.” But the opera house was in a really nice area, so like I could wear my pearls – because I have a string of Mikimoto pearls, which I absolutely love. But I only wear them when I feel super safe.

C: But you would need like, I don’t know, 40 or 50 of those strands of pearls to be…

K: Yeah. Like, this watch was – that’s no Mikimoto – like

C: Yeah.

K: Because it’s not even like a full string of pearls. There’s space in between the pearls.

C: Yes.

K: So, it’s not like one of those long… loopy 1920s, you know, wrap it around your neck several times kind of pearl things. No, it’s a – it’s a choker.

C: Mhm.

K: It’s a modest choker, so it’s nothing extravagant. But they are Mikimoto.

C: Yes.

K: And I’m very proud of that.

C: Yeah. I mean

K: Because Mikimoto’s a very – very nice designer.

C: It is.

K: I wonder if Mikimoto actually designed it or if one of the… minor designers – so, I’m sorry if I’m sounding super elitist. Because I’ve had these pearls for like 20 years. I must sound like I’m super rich, and I’m not.

C: (laughs)

K: I’m not – I’m laying in bed, and I’m not proud of this, but in a really dirty t-shirt. In my – it’s my sleepshirt.

C: Yeah.

K: And I’ve been thinking for the past three days that I really need to change my sleep shirt.

C: Mhm.

K: And I just don’t have the will to do it.

C: Because we don’t have a drying machine – like, we don’t have a drier. We have a washing machine and no drier.

K: That is so cute. You’re trying to act like it’s not because I want to be a pig girl.

C: (laughs)

K: No. I just – I’m liking the filth of my shirt if I’m being honest. It’s filthy, and it’s comfortable.

C: Okay.

K: Yeah. I like how filthy and comfortable it is.

C: It’s got a nice, like, sheen on it?

K: Yeah. So – okay, gosh. This is just so TMI. I haven’t bathed in three days, so I’m like “tomorrow, I’m bathing.” I was gonna bathe today. And I was just like, I can’t do it. I can’t do it. So, on my days off I don’t bathe.

C: Bathing every day is just not really great for your skin.

K: For my skin in particular.

C: For most people’s skin. Like, I have psoriasis, so it’s terrible for mine.

K: Yeah.

C: You have porphyria, so it’s terrible for yours.

K: Yeah.

C: But most people – their skin – your skin is not made to bathe every day. Now, if you do a job where you’re all sweaty and smelly, you’ll probably want to bathe every day, but

K: Well, and I bathe every day that I leave the house.

C: Yeah.

K: And that’s become more dubious now that I’m working from home.

C: Right?

K: And it’s – so, now – this is the longest I’ve gone without bathing. So, I think tomorrow, I will absolutely bathe. I’m pretty sure.

C: Okay.

K: (laughs)

C: So, you’re just going to take the shirt in the shower with you and just wring it out. Just be like

K: No, I’ve – I’ve been thinking about like, “I should bathe and change my sleep-shirt.”

C: Okay.

K: I should.

C: We have a selection available to you.

K: Yeah, there is, and I love the selection. And so, I’m still currently doing short sleeves even though it’s super cold.

C: Yeah.

K: And I do feel like it’s coming close to the time for me to break down and wear the long sleeves. You’ve been in the long sleeves now for about two weeks I want to say. Or maybe even a full month.

C: I think about a full month.

K: Yeah. But then the other day, much to my joy and surprise, I woke up to you sitting naked on the bade in a freezing cold house.

C: It did not feel freezing cold to me.

K: It was freezing cold. And I was like, “oh my gosh. Honey, what are you doing? You’re so glorious and sexy, but aren’t you cold?” And you’re like, “no. I am burning up hot.”

C: Yeah.

K: So, I was like, “okay. You can turn off one of the heaters” but – and your skin was hot. I don’t know. We should’ve taken your temperature.

C: We have a temperature gun. I did not take my temperature, but

K: We should have taken your temperature. You might’ve had a fever that day.

C: I don’t remember the last time I had a fever. Even when I – even when you think I’m burning up hot, we take my temperature, it’s totally normal.

K: I know. And I – like, with the sphygmomanometer – I’m like, “no. You’re flushed. You’re hot. Let’s take your blood pressure.”

C: (laughs)

K: “Let’s listen to your heartbeat. Let’s get the gun out.” I’m like, “let’s draw the checks and everything.”

C: You’re like, “I’ve got my stethoscope. I’m ready.”

K: Yeah. And I do have a stethoscope.

C: You do, yes.

K: Yeah. I have a stethoscope, a sphygmomanometer, and a fever gun.

C: Yes.

K: So, the fever guns – I don’t know if y’all know what those are. So, they’re basically… a gun that you point at someone’s forehead, and then you pull the trigger, and it tells you their temperature. And it’s green if they don’t have a temperature and red if they do. And they use them – I don’t know if they used them in the U.S. – but they use them in Japan, like “if you don’t pass this fever test, you have to get out.”

C: Yeah. The last time I went to my doctor, they handed me a thermometer.

K: What?

C: And I asked them, “where am I supposed to put this?”

K: In your underarm.

C: They handed me – that’s what they told me. But they handed it to me before I even entered the building.

K: No fever gun?

C: No. And they’ve had it in the past – the infrared contactless thermometer.

K: Yeah.

C: Where they just point it at your forehead and… click it, and it tells them a temperature. So, I don’t know what was up with that. I don’t know if they had run out of batteries or something.

K: That’s what I was going to say, like maybe the batteries were out on it or something.

C: Yeah.

K: I don’t know. Now, it’s dubious. I don’t trust them as much as I used to.

C: Wow. Okay.

(laughter)

C: They’ve only been my doctor for a few years.

K: I really like the fever gun because it doesn’t – I call them fever guns

C: Yeah.

K: But they don’t touch you. And I like that idea. Like, you don’t need to touch me to know my temperature. And then my doctor keeps wanting me to stick my arm in the sphygmomanometer. So, in Japan – at least, in all of my doctors’ offices – there’s a machine that you can stick your arm in, and it automatically does your blood pressure for you. But I’m like, “I am not sticking my hand in that germ-infested thing.”

C: (laughs)

K: So, I always do mine at home. And he knows I do mine at home. And he’s like, “no paper?” And I’m like, “no. No paper.”

C: Yeah, you don’t have one to print it out because we got these things to decide, like… are you just feeling poorly, or do you need to go to the hospital, so you don’t die?

K: Yeah. But even when my blood pressure is really wonky, he doesn’t tend to react.

C: Yeah. Just like, whatever. Your heartbeat’s 150

K:  Well, they like ask me, “do you want to go the hospital or not?”

C: Yeah.

K: It’s my decision. I think that’s really weird – and it’s really upsetting for my clients. I tell them, “your doctor will ask you whether or not you want to go to the hospital.” And I think it’s because it’s socialized medicine.

C: I think so, too. And I think that they kind of believe that everybody has the right to make their own choices. I feel like that’s way less aggressive than going to your doctor in the U.S., and them just calling an ambulance and being like, “okay. You’re going to owe 2000 dollars that’s not going to be covered by your insurance because I decided you’re sick.”

K: Wow. Okay. That’s never happened to us, for the record. No one ever called the ambulance for me.

C: No, the only person who ever decided that the ambulance needed to be called on me was you. And to be fair, it did.

K: Um, hello. That was after the accident.

C: (laughs) Yes.

K: You were concussed. You needed new skin.

C: Yes.

K: So, that wasn’t even the time you broke your heelbone.

C: No.

K: Yeah. You needed an ambulance.

C: That’s why I said to be fair.

K: Yeah. But I’m a horrible wife because I didn’t even go in the ambulance with you.

C: (laughs)

K: Like, they wanted me to come, and they were trying to drag me out of my house, and I was like, “no, no.”

C: You and I both

K: “He’s got it from here.”

C: You and I had both agreed in advance of either of us needing an ambulance

K: Yeah, I don’t want you coming in the ambulance with me.

C: Yeah.

K: It’s going to be tight and crowded. And awkward. And they’re going to be yelling at you in medical Japanese.

C: Okay.

K: The job is get Rasta.

C: And what happens if you die? I don’t want to see that.

K: (laughs)

C: What? I’ve seen other people die. It is an upsetting, traumatic thing. Like…

K: I haven’t found it to be traumatic.

C: Yeah, I think that – that you and I have had different experiences with that – which are probably beyond the scope of international friends.

(laughter)

K: It is well beyond the scope of international friends. So, I don’t think we really talked about how cosmopolitan – so, the thing that got me thinking about it – so, there was something that triggered this train of thought.

C: Okay.

K: Like, what they did at the Space Needle for New Year’s Eve in…

C: Seattle

K: Yeah, in Seattle. And everybody was like, “oh” so mystified about it. I’m like, “we do that at the T.V. tower every year.” They have different shows at the T.V. tower that you can go and watch.

C: Yes.

K: That are similar. That are just like that. And so, I was amazed by how amazed everyone was by it. And I was thinking, “wow, I really live in a cosmopolitan city.” That our city just offers those shows randomly throughout the year. Different shows that we can go see at the terebi (T.V.) tower.

C: Yes. It is a very cosmopolitan city. Most of the traveling exhibits – if it goes to Tokyo, it will come to Nagoya.

K: Yeah.

C: So, we don’t miss out on anything that way.

K: Yeah, and like Cirque Du Soleil always comes to Nagoya.

C: I think we have 6 or 7 different art museums in Nagoya.

K: Yeah. And… so, Triennale always happens in Nagoya.  And then… the Bampaku – no, the expo.

C: Yeah.

K: When…

C: That happened once, but that

K: Yeah.

C: I mean, most places only get that once if they get it. But the World Expo in

K: Yeah, but we got it here in Nagoya in the NGO.

C: Yes. In 2005.

K: Yeah. So, come on now. We got it.

C: Well – and the

K: And I was here.

C: Yeah.

K: And I went, and it was amazing.

C: The expo park is being turned into a Studio Ghibli theme park.

K: I know, and I think that’s so weird because I’m never gonna go.

C: Yeah.

K: I think it’s weird that I’m never gonna go because I love Studio Ghibli.

C: Yeah. Rasta and I went there… a year ago? I think.

K: Really?

C: Yeah. Early – like, just before the pandemic. For a gyoza festival.

K: Oh, okay. Yeah. I was like, “what are you guys doing out there?”

C: Yeah. And they had a My Neighbor Totoro house set up there. So, they’ve had that for a while, and they’re just kind of expanding that into an entire theme park.

K: Well, that’s been there since the expo.

C: Right.

K: That’s been there since the expo.

C: Right. And so, they’re just going to expand that to take over more of the park.

K: So, the thing that I heard about was the giant gyoza.

C: Oh, yeah. Because those were delicious. Those were absolutely

K: Yeah, so how big were the giant gyoza?

C: The giant gyoza were… about the size of… I’d say like a half peach.

K: What are you saying?

C: I’m saying like take a peach and cut it in half, and half that peach is about the size of the gyoza.

K: Or half an apple?

C: Yeah… I mean, you could say half an apple, but that’s not as exciting as half a peach.

K: So, like… the gyoza was as big as a McDonald’s apple pie?

C: It was a lot

K: I’m trying to think of like a universal thing that everybody will know the size of. Because I’ve done like, peach, apple, McDonald’s apple pie.

C: I mean, everybody won’t know the exact size of it, but it was… like… about the size of my fist.

K: Nobody will know that.

C: See?

K: Yeah, so you can’t – that’s why I was like we can’t use you hand.

C: (laughs)

K: But I think, with the McDonald’s apple pie and half an apple and half a peach, that we’ve got a pretty good reference.

C: Yeah, I think so.

K: Because I think the McDonald’s apple pie is a little bit on the small side. Those are the smaller gyoza.

C: I think for anybody who eats typical gyoza, it was about five of those.

K: Yeah. And you really had a good time at the festival.

C: Yeah, I did.

K: Because they hold lots of festivals there. Because you’ve been to the ramen festival there, you’ve been to the gyoza festival there.

C: Yeah.

K: And they do like a couple of other ones. Because, again, Nagoya is an international city that’s always popping with festivals and all kinds of things going on. And I’m ready to get back to that. I really am.

C: I would like to get back to that, too. Yeah.

K: It was so weird this year when there was the marathon.

C: Mhm.

K: Because, every year, the… Women’s Marathon

C: Women’s Marathon, yeah.

K: Happens, and it runs… one of the pathways is right by our house. And so, I was kind of missing that. And… I don’t know. I’m just missing stuff. I’m starting to miss stuff.

C: Yeah.

K: Stuff I don’t take part in. Like, it’s weird. I don’t know why I’m missing the marathon because I never run it, have no plans to run it – but I just miss it happening. I just – I’m missing things.

C: I think you miss the reports. Because Rasta and I tend to go to these things and then tell you about it.

K: Yeah. I do miss that. And I do miss you guys, like, hanging out.

C: Yeah. We do that, now, but we do it here. And… it feels less… momentous.

K: Yeah. It does. Are you guys still hanging out tomorrow?

C: Yup.

K: That’s cool. I like that you guys hang out. I like that my husband and son are friends.

C: Yes.

K: That makes me feel good. So… yeah. This was a weird meandering. I think this was more about Ferris wheels than it was about how international Nagoya is.

C: Well, and my son is an international person, so…

K: Yes, he is.

C: There’s a friend.

K: So, maybe we were on target?

C: Yup.

K: Uhh, I don’t know.

C: I think we’re always on target.

K: (laughs) Now, we’re going to talk about something random. (laughs) I have no idea what we’re talking about in the take two. Do you?

C: Nope.

K: Yeah, I – oh, we have to talk about typesetting and how that affects books.

C: Okay, yes.

K: Yeah.

C: That is what we’re going to talk about.

K: Because we’re right at that kind of place. So… (laughs) And marketing and sales and all of that kind of stuff. And so, we’re really, really happy that you guys chose to spend this time with us, and we’re always honored – humbled and honored – that you give us your ear every week. And we hope that you join us next week. And for our patrons, let’s head on over to the take two, and we’ll be talking about – believe it or not, typesetting is actually a really interesting conversation. It may not sound like it, but I promise you it is.

C: Don’t you care about the history of books?

K: (laughs) We’ll talk to you next week, or we’ll see you over in the take two. Have a good one.

C: Bye.

K: Bye.