Klarinet Archive - Posting 001373.txt from 1997/10

From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: Hungry after concerts
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 22:54:56 -0500

Hungry after concerts

On our trip to Japan, we played in the city called Yokohama.
After a concert, as always, musicians are hungry. We looked for a place
to eat. We saw something that looked like an eating place. We went in.
All they had was what looked like pastry. We bought some of those with
some tea.
It turned out that those pastries were actually rice encased in some
sort of covering.

We left, still not satiated. After walking a bit we saw another
restaurant.
In many eating places in Japan they have a showcase outside the
restaurant with plastic models of what they serve.
One can look at the samples, decide what one wants and then order.
Since we didn't speak Japanese, it would be by pointing at the item
and saying "OK, uh.uh!"

We beckoned to the waiter to come out and then started to decide what we
would like.
I pointed out to my friend this or that, and he pointed out his this or
that and finally we decided on two items.
So we said "OK, uh and uh".

We went into the restaurant and sat down.
They brought one dish and we ate that. Soon after they brought another
dish, followed by another dish, followed by another dish, by another-

Guess what? Everything we had pointed at in our decision moment was
brought to us.
Plate after plate after plate. Can you imagine a whole table full of
food! Made of rice!

In Japan there is such a thing as loss of face.
So we did the best we could by moving bits over to the edge of the
plate, making it look as if we tasted everything. We were not going to
insult our hosts.

After paying the bill, my friend said to me "I think that all the food
they brought us tonight paid off their mortgage"!

Don't point at food!

Avrahm Galper