I had my third surfer stay for four days. Her name is Kanako Noda. I called her Kanakosan.
She spoke as good of English as I speak Spanish. The four days were filled with activities.
First day we went to Epcot. We shared small talk. Due to lack of fluency in Kanako's English, we converse slowly, with patience and choosing our words carefully. We both speak slowly and very clearly. I am careful to not get carried on talking incessantly because I will lose her. She pays attention and when I lose her she stops me and ask me to repeat. Sometimes we are forced to use a dictionary. I am used to this from learning English and Spanish. I understand what she is going through. We give each other space. We do not rush to fill the silence with empty words.
We share difference between eastern and western culture. We share difference and common grounds between Korea and Japan. We know shared history between Japan and Korea. She know about media richness such as Kpop, Korean dramas, Japanese animation, kimchi and sushi. We talk about where we are headed in near future as well as down the road from now. Yet richest drone we share is what is front of us; exploring Disney world.
It was her first time in her life to ride a motorcycle, yet she feels brave or comfortable enough to fall asleep on it. I only know one other person who can do that. Surprisingly Kanako is night owl just like me, we stayed up till 3am and wake up 8am to go back to Disney animal kingdom. This time my excitement for animals show, talking with Disney people who hold each animal information responsible are my favorite people. We talk about their behavior, origin, food they eat, how they grow and their rarity in the world and it is so fascinating. I could just stand their talk about animals forever. More rare they are more I am interested. Especially if I have never seen it. I am losing Kanako so we move. We chase after tiger to have a closer look.
I take her to downtown Orlando to show her club scene. She has never been in a club in her life. She stop by every bars and clubs. Not surprising, she likes the karaoke bar the best. There we meet some Korean loving frenzy people, drunk and incessantly asking me to sing Gangnam style and it's dance. I politely refuse but eventually give in except I dance my usual running man and shuffle. Attempt newly practiced move glide, but failed. Kanako doesn't dance so we go home and have a mid night snack, Korean ramen. It's too spicy for her. I guess Japanese and Korean don't share that spicy taste.
She is the first japanse person that I got to know. I see the reserved side in her, the way many westerners expect Asians to behave. Yet, she is not shy to ask questions and have difficult conversations.
Third day we go for a ride to Sarasota, on the way we stopped by my new Korean friend and Fabrizio. Fabrizio joins for the ride to Sarasota. There we share a pitcher of beer at daquiry deck and meet up with his friend Sunnie and ride out to the beach. After watching sunset, we ride fast toward Tampa to see annual pirate parade and it is crazy. Road is blocked for parade and sidewalks are filled with people block after block. It's like new Orleans Mardi GRAS that I saw on tv. Beads being thrown, slutty outfit, pirate outfit, makeups, loud music, aggressive drunk people yelling "show him your tits" I invite Dustin, but couldn't meet due to madness on the street. We head back home, shivering through cold wind blowing at us going 80mph on I-4. We are cold and tired. We have not slept much. We both get on our iPads and iPhone and have time to ourselves.
I remember my days of traveling when I always needed some time to myself to check email, CS and facebook to organize near future plan for the travel. When she is ready to mingle, she comes find me and we talk. Show some of our pictures in our phones.
Fourth day is a chill day, we sleep in a bit. Visit local park and go for a long walk. I teach her Spanish because she is going to Peru and Bolivia soon. I teacher some of the most essential for travel. Bathroom, ordering food, hello, good bye, numbers and please. She learns fast and has great memorizing skill.
Saying good bye was difficult than anticipated. We bonded, we became friends and will be maintain touch in the future.
I think of my past hosts in Mexico, venezuela and Colombia. We exchange long messages on FB. Tell each other on our experiences that we did not tell or shared in the reference on CS.
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