Mr. Ito - the wacky Buddhist monk.

9/26/07

The guy I am staying with, Mister/Monk Ito, is crazy as a spring hare. This is a partial list of things he has done in my first 3 days.
An impromptu handstand, fallen asleep on the floor afterlunch, suddenly remembered it was O-Bon, one of the most important Buddhist holidays, had me rush off with him to his mother's grave for impromptu cleaning, incense burning and prayer, demanded to listento my MP3 player, and did so for 15 minutes. Sing "Puff the Magic Dragon", play a harmonica with one hand while driving, tell me that a dragon lives in the lake, fondled the sides of a pot he made and wondered aloud if he should put breasts on it, had me watch video footage of how great he is, told me that his specialty is the "Whack-a-mole" game, and tells me every day, several times a day, "You must chop fire wood!" in English, and laughs.