It’s a little known fact that Yon once lived in Japan, spoke Japanese fluently and was pretty damn good at Karate. I have certainly been glad of the precision she was taught, as it has saved me serious injuries on several occasions when she’s popped off a few show-off kicks (well, except that one time when she overcooked a fake punch and very nearly broke my nose, much to the amusement of the kids in a Bolivian bus station). She took me to Japan on our way to London in 2005. My first real memory is of us walking down a tiny, deserted lane at night, and poking our head into a small restaurant. Yon called out “hello” and a wooden panel snapped open. A little man, dressed all in white, with a matching white hat, yelled “Hai!” in the Japanese way of saying “Yes, at your service!” It was straight out of “Spirited Away“. I thought this was the coolest thing ever, and I was hooked.
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