Geishas

Michael When a wealthy businessman in Japan really wants to let loose, he rents two or three geishas for the evening for up to 3000 dollars. These are professionally trained traditional entertainers who cover their faces with thick white makeup, paint their lips bright red, introduce themselves to the hosts during a formal dinner with a precisely defined ritual (Kaiseki dinner), give them compliments, light cigarettes, perform fan dances, and strum on hideous, out-of-tune three-stringed instruments. I wouldn't even pay 3 dollars for that, but hey, to each their own. According to current estimates, there are about 100 geishas left in Kyoto and 1000 in all of Japan. One evening, as we were leaving a restaurant and Angelika went ahead because I still had to pay at the register, the waitress excitedly informed Angelika that there were geishas! Geishas! passing by outside the door. However, Angelika misunderstood the waitress and replied that she was just waiting for her husband. We laughed so much! Make way for Angelika!