Japanese Culture

I’m constantly learning…

So far I’ve often ordered more or less randomly from the menu in restaurants. I’ve learned not to do that anymore, because the person sitting on the next table was served a dish that was still moving. And the animal (I think it was an octopus or something like that) was not just moving a bit, but it was moving a lot! And it kept on moving for a long time. I need to remember what the Japanese word is for food that is still moving…

Another thing I learned is to wait until after lunch (or dinner) to ask for the names of foods (and only order food with names I know). Otherwise I might lose my appetite again… the dish was called “Parent and Child”. It was chicken with egg.

Gradually I’m also deepening my understanding of the cultural differences of the attitude towards work. Gwen told me that in Japan part-time jobs are called “arbeit”. (Which means “job” in German.) I guess a long time ago, when the first Austrians came to Japan and talked about their (full time) jobs back home, the Japanese understood that those are only part-time jobs.