Sunday, February 27, 2011

Meeting fov in Pigg

Grapheme and fov 02

Yesterday I was in Pigg (my Pico ID is grapheme) trying out my new pink space suit (are you jealous, Peggy? I know you are) in the new spaceship room when I noticed that MissLindaK was online. Since I hadn't given her a ring for the day, I went to her room and found that she had company over. She was having a friendly chat with several English-speaking Pigg players who were attracted to a room event she had started.

While I was teasing Linda a little about the difference between Americans and Canadians fov (Pigg ID: fov1984) entered the room wearing his very trendy murse. Little did I know he would be one of the most awesome people I would meet in Pigg.

It turns out that fov is from Hokkaido, Japan, has played the drums for 10 years, and works in a supermarket as well as organizing music events; specializing in traditional enka music and J-pop.

Grapheme and fov 01

Why, fov has even been to Toronto - my beloved city! - and he is dying to get back because Japanese restaurants in Toronto have shrimp rolls, something that is not typicallya part of authentic Japanese cuisine. He really likes those shrimp rolls! Yum yum.

fov loved Toronto so much that his initial visit turned into a 2-year working vacation (with the proper documentation needed, of course). I'm sure it was not just our shrimp rolls that kept him here ... although he did say talking about it brought back good memories.

fov and I talked about lots of things. I wondered what he thought of our primitive North American toilets, since toilets in Japan are very technologically advanced. He said our urinals are high on the wall and our toilets have low water pressure. Good to know. Cultural considerations are important.

I would love to visit Hokkaido. After all, it is the birthplace of Sapporo beer, home of the Sapporo Beer Museum and a brewery still operates here. It already sounds like I would have a lot of fun in Hokkaido.



Looking up the city online, I found that Hokkaido has many leisure activities during the year as well as theme/amusement parks, zoos and aquariums, museums and more. Not to mention the beautiful Sōunkyō gorge and many hot springs for relaxation. There would be lots to do and see besides enjoying much Sapporo. I envy fov a little.

So, while fov dreams of shrimp rolls and I dream of Japanese-style inns with hot springs ... hopefully fov will convince a savvy Hokkaido restauranteur to make the seafood roll he loves, I will enjoy a tall glass of Sapporo at the all-you-can-eat Japanese place across from where I live, and you can visit fov in Pigg, give his rooom and ring to thank him for his kindness and hospitality.

I hope to introduce my English-speaking friends in Pigg to fov soon so they can enjoy his great personality and conversation too.

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