If anyone knows me and my wife, they know we are complete opposites that somehow make each other better when we are together. We have few hobbies and interests in common. However, over the last few years my growing interest in the world of sake has given us another one in common.
My wife has always been interested in various types of dishes, bowls, etc. I have always thought it was not interesting and boring. I would think some looked better than others, but my interest was pretty much non-existent. I would often tease her about how it was “just a dish” or “just a bowl”. When we lived in Sasebo, Japan we would travel to Arita and she would want to go shopping for dishes. I would always be bored, but I would go along with it because it made her happy.
Flash forward to a few years ago. My interest and appreciation of sake had become more serious. I would always see people drinking out of sakazukis on TV and I would wonder why it didn’t look like the ochoko I drank out of. At the time I did not know the name of the different types of sake cups. I started looking into it to see what the different kinds of cups were called. I learned about the different cups and made it a point to at least get one cup of every style.
After a while I finally purchased a sakazuki and showed it to my wife. I was excited over a small porcelain cup. My wife smiled at me and began teasing me about teasing her over her dish interest. I laughed as I finally understood how she could be interested in such a mundane item.
Now, we have a shared interest and I appreciate the dishes she buys and looks for, and she enjoys seeing me interested in sake cups. Whenever she pulls out a fancy dish for special occasions I do take a moment and appreciate its craftsmanship and beauty. I know find it hard to believe I did not appreciate it sooner. It just took sake to help grow my appreciation for little things in life.
As I said before,my wife and I are like night and day in the things we like. She loves the classic white and blue dishes. I like more of an earthy looking dish with earthy tones. She likes the more decorative ones and I like rustic and kind of plain or natural looking. I guess we will always be divided on things like that, but at least we know have another interest in common.
Are there any interests you and your significant other share? Feel free to leave a comment.