Paradise on the Train

I signed up for a bunch of the base spouse group’s activities a week weeks ago, during our month plus hotel stay.

“Mom, do you have any friends?” Eloise had asked me a few days prior.

“Uh, not yet, but it’ll be easier once we find somewhere to live…?” I said, probably convincingly.

TODAY was the first one: a tour of the Kirin Brewery in Yokohama! A nice group of ladies met up at the train station and off we went. After a couple train switches, we were walking to the actual building when

“OH MY GOSH! IS THAT BIRD OF PARADISE IN THE GARBAGE?!” I couldn’t believe it!! I saw a TINY bird of paradise plant at the local Japanese version of Home Depot the other day and it was about $25 without a pot. This one was HUGE and it in a clay pot! It was next to some other moving-out detritus. It’s challenging to throw things away in Japan if they don’t fit in a 45 liter bag (this defiantly would not fit in a 45-liter bag). And it’s hard to find large plants that don’t cost a fortune. OOOoooooOOOO! I wanted this plant so bad! My brain was buzzing.

“Will you still be my friend if I carry this home on the train later?” I sheepishly asked, half-joking but not really. Several ladies laughed and assured me if we weren’t going to be friends it had nothing to do with the plant. Just kidding, they said it was fine. So we hid it behind the dumpster to nab on the way back.

I feel like most brewery tours are more or less the same; the value is in doing it for fun and seeing the lovely brewery beer garden or tasting room. This tour was different, VERY detailed in its explanations, and the cutest brewery tour I’ve been on. Little cartoon explanations popped up to explain different parts of the brewing process, with more interaction than I’ve experienced before: taste this malt! Break apart these hops and smell. Sample the first and second hops presses, which are sweet, non-carbonated and non-alcoholic. Now hold your hands like this—cute little cartoon yeasts pop up in the shadow and PacMan the cartoon sugars! Kawaii-desu! So cute!

Last year around Valentine’s Day we went to the Stella Artois Brewery, which was underwhelming. Watching the machinery at work inspired our Christmastime trip to the Bluebell Ice Cream Factory. And last time we went to a brewery was in Houston with Chris’ sister, and before that, our favorite La Chouffe Brewery with some of our favorite people, the O’Bryants and the Bayers. I was thinking about those nice things during the extended Japanese parts of the tour.

Then came the tasting! “What a reasonably-sized sample for an 11am tour,” I thought about the 8-oz size glass. Oh, we have to sit at these desks to drink it, ok. Oooo, I love these beer snacks. I had thought the tour was over but the guide continued an explanation in Japanese. I was about halfway done with my beer when everyone received a flight with three more 8-oz samples. Oh my. Well, no one here will be embarrassed about my plant on the train now.

We tasted Kirin Ichiban, made in the Germany style with only the first press of hops. We tasted Kirin Ichiban Premium, made with (radioactive?) hops from Tohoku. And we tasted Kirin Ichiban Kuronama, a very dark, malty beer. We held the beer glasses this way and that to check the color without disrupting the bubbles and letting them fly out, as per our instructions. We ate dry crackers to reset our palettes between samples. It was the most organized beer tasting I’ve ever done. At the end of the explanations, you have 10 minutes to finish everything and be gone. I did not finish, but I bought some to take home to Chris.

Something I’ve been working with the kids on is not to be obnoxious and assume they know everything. “Even if you know 95 percent of the material, keep your eyes open for the five percent you didn’t know. I’m sure you can learn something,” is how that after school special-ish talk went. Eloise just kind of frowned. But in the same vein, I definitely learned more about beer today!

So back to my plant. It was still there. And it was still quite heavy. “Just propagate a few cuttings from it,” someone wisely recommended. But I was already dazzled by it, so I put my canvas tote around the bottom to catch dirt and hoisted it onto my hip like a giant toddler. This made the Americans laugh. Taking the escalator up to the train platform made them laugh even harder. The little fronds kept bouncing in the wind and tapping people’s heads. It’s four or five feet tall at its tallest, so it also kept brushing against the platform signage. It was challenging to waddle onto the train car. Japanese people do not stare as a general rule, but boys kept laughing and laughing, and older ladies perked up and looked very interested, even commenting to me about it (on the platform—never on the train of course).

People in my neighborhood continued to admire the palm as I staggered seven minutes home from the train station.

Now it’s home, tucked into another pot in the corner until it gets warmer outside I AM SO PLEASED! With my plant and new friends. And it’s not just the beer talking.