I know Inacio from emails and flickr photos, but today I finally got to meet him.
Inacio flew back this morning to the US and left for Rio, Brasil just this evening. He was here early and took me by surprise. He and Mike were talking about his trip to China and Japan. Inacio has been there over a month and a half. Mike asked Inacio whether he eats sushi. "Do you eat raw fish?" and you should have looked at his face when he said it. Then he went on, "they eat octopus raw and alive," looking at Inacio. Inacio said "it's OK, I eat sushi". It took me a few minutes before saying this to Mike, "you eat steak raw, right? The meat in which the inside is full of blood and everything." He admitted he eats raw steaks.
Inacio brought all the souvenirs from China and Japan, where all those manufactured goods come from. He had a fine drawing of pictures and impressive caligraphies, and said were very cheap. Labor costs are cheap in China, due to unfair currency yuan rate. It is a major concern of exporters in the United States. He said he liked Kyoto and said that he has been to Hakone. I told him Hakone is where the western and eastern Japanese cultural division line. The western half of Japan traditionally been the center of cultural activities. It gradually move into the eastern area and in Edo period, and Tokyo became the capital of Japan. They speak different dialects in eastern and western Japan. The custom house he saw in Hakone was very important in keeping tracks of all people going from east to west.
Inacio flew back this morning to the US and left for Rio, Brasil just this evening. He was here early and took me by surprise. He and Mike were talking about his trip to China and Japan. Inacio has been there over a month and a half. Mike asked Inacio whether he eats sushi. "Do you eat raw fish?" and you should have looked at his face when he said it. Then he went on, "they eat octopus raw and alive," looking at Inacio. Inacio said "it's OK, I eat sushi". It took me a few minutes before saying this to Mike, "you eat steak raw, right? The meat in which the inside is full of blood and everything." He admitted he eats raw steaks.
Inacio brought all the souvenirs from China and Japan, where all those manufactured goods come from. He had a fine drawing of pictures and impressive caligraphies, and said were very cheap. Labor costs are cheap in China, due to unfair currency yuan rate. It is a major concern of exporters in the United States. He said he liked Kyoto and said that he has been to Hakone. I told him Hakone is where the western and eastern Japanese cultural division line. The western half of Japan traditionally been the center of cultural activities. It gradually move into the eastern area and in Edo period, and Tokyo became the capital of Japan. They speak different dialects in eastern and western Japan. The custom house he saw in Hakone was very important in keeping tracks of all people going from east to west.