"Nancy, would you like to come with me and see a pear (nashi) farm?" the division manager asked me at 10:00 a.m. today.

"Sure", I replied. Afterall I had nothing to do for the next two weeks.

At 10:30 we were off to Komi-san's farm to look at the pears. I was a little anxious about the drive. The division manager, Kacho-san, had never really spoken directly to me other than to say thank you when I gave him a present from some trip I had taken. However, he talked to me like a normal person. "Komi-san and I are friends. He grows pears and chestnuts. Your Japanese has become very good. You can understand what I say and only after 1 year. Good job." I couldn't believe he had noticed that I can understand Japanese without ever talking to me. I guess he listens in when I talk to the other workers in the office.

When we arrived at the farm, Komi-san told me to follow him. He took me into one of the pear patches where he had already hung 2 large baskets.

"Watch me. Like this. You pull off this wire part and twist the pear upwards to break it off of the stem. Then you put the wire into this basket and the pear into that basket. Now you try."

I picked an entire basket full - maybe 20 pears with the encouragement of Komi-san and his wife. "Pick more. Fill up the whole basket."

45 minutes later it was time to go. Komi-san put the pears into a plastic bag and handed them to me. "Thank you very much" I replied, surprised. At the farmer's market pears cost $2 a pop. Komi-san was very generous. As Kacho-san said on the drive home, "His face looks scary but he has a kind heart".

We're back in Japan.....