One worry I had when traveling to Japan is that I wouldn’t like the food. You see, I hate fish. And I’m allergic to seaweed. Which makes most sushi and common food items a no go for me. And then there was an issue of a mad cow scare making beef not an option either.
My unique “diet” got a little lost in translation with my host family. So when I was introduced to people by them, it was “Kore wa Lili desu. Toriniku daisuki desu.” Meaning “This is Lili, she loves chicken.” I remember my host mother introducing me like that numerous times, especially anyone that might be feeding me. It was like I was the weird pet that they had to provide others with instructions on how to care for me.
When I met my host grandparents up at their beautiful mountain cabin, they had been forewarned and so presented me with a lovely living white chicken. “Toriniku” she said excitedly to me, over and over again. I smiled and nodded, still too jet lagged and hungry to really care. And then suddenly, she chopped off the chicken’s head, right there. Again, I was on a weird sleep schedule, and so was so tired I didn’t react. My host mother then suggested I take a nap before dinner, and I slept until the smell of grandmother’s cooking woke me up. And it was some of the best damn good chicken I’ve ever had!
Travel Missteps is an every-other week series on how sometimes part of the journey is making mistakes and getting lost.
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