The Noh students and a few others had a party last night with our Noh teachers. This was really special because the other classes aren't doing this until the big party on the night of our recital. We went to a little restaurant that was hidden at the end of an alley, took off our shoes, and went upstairs to a tatami mat room with a low table. The wait staff placed little bells on the table. Whenever we wanted to order more drinks or food, one of us would ring a bell and we'd hear several people downstairs yell, "HAI!" Then we'd all laugh and applaud. It was a little awkward because only Num and I knew no Japanese, and those who could speak any English were limited in their ability to translate the long stories and explanations of our sensei. We had a lot of fun anyway, and I learned that they are coming to the US to tour Noh productions in Boston, NYC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, and (oddly) Louisville, Kentucky! I will have to try to get to one of those cities when they are performing. We had no fish at this dinner. It was mostly chicken, and several dishes they identified as chicken "guts". The weirdest dish was chicken sashimi -- That's right: RAW CHICKEN. Yes, I did eat it - very tasty with a salty sesame oil sauce. The bill came to more than had been announced to us. I was preparing to pull out the extra when Katayama-san, Tamoi-san, and Oe-san decided that the sensei would make up the difference. VERY kind.
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