Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Chopsticks are so Tricky...


A funny little commercial by the independent productions company Fatal Farm.

The ending holds a special meaning for me, as it brings to mind meeting of the Thursday night sushi crew in which I, while raising a peice of nigiri salmon to my mouth, watched in amazement as it slipped from my chopsticks, flipped head over tales and flew through the air, diving gracefully into CP's cup of green tea half way across the table.

Wallah! Ochazuke!

The entire incident unfolded before my eyes in slow-motion, inducing a laugh attack the likes of which the Ena kaiten sushi scene had never seen.

'But seriously,' you may ask, 'how does that happen'? Only I in my infinite wisdom could achieve such a feat without effort of any kind. (You are welcomed to try, of course, if you think you can do bettter).

In my own defense, I actually do use chopsticks rather well (better that most of my students) and prefer them to silverware. And, like most foreginers in Japan, I have been complimented countless times on my fine form by everyone from kindergarteners, to teachers, to a maiko and the mistress of a teahouse!



4 comments:

Abbey said...

Oh, yes.... Good Times! Both you and Todd have provided me with plenty of chuckles which are sorely needed this morning. So I thank ye for that.

Anonymous said...

hahaha ehhh...ochazuke, right...lolol this is hilarious...

Anonymous said...

Hey Melissa, can you recommend me a good website that has Japanese love poetry?

Melissa said...

Alyson: It's so strange that you should ask. I just recently requested a number of books on the subject from my local library. Here are the few websites I've added to my favorites in the past:

One of my absolute favorites, Ono no Komachi:
http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/ono.html

http://www.poetrylives.com/SimplyHaiku/SHv4n4/reviews/Hirshfield.html

In the Kokinshu:
http://www.poetrylives.com/SimplyHaiku/SHv4n3/features/Hulvey.html

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/japanese_poetry.html

You can also try looking up writers like the modern Yosano Akiko.

You may have to wade through a lot of info and links, but hopefully those will help!