Today’s guest blog is an exciting one. One of our middle school students, John, got to experience Japanese cuisine and culture… without getting on an airplane! Read on and consider doing the same thing yourself.

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I knew that I would not be traveling out of the country, so my mother decided to give me an international experience by taking me to Tokyo, the restaurant, not the city in Japan.  I have never been to a Japanese restaurant before so I didn’t know what to expect.  The food was good,  and they cooked the food right in front of you.

Starting out we had to choose what we wanted to eat.  My sister and I chose hibachi steak with broccoli and white rice.  My mother and her friend chose chicken teriyaki with fried rice and mixed vegetables.  We each got a bowl of soup to start the meal; it was a mixture of broth, mushrooms and onions.  It tastes good but I didn’t really like the mushrooms.

When I got my meal, my mother’s friend taught me how to eat with chopsticks.  It was hard at first and then it became easy.  My mother was only able to pick up one piece of rice.  The food was delicious.  I got to try both my meal and my mother’s.  The next time I go, I’m going to order the chicken teriyaki.

There is one thing I should mention to you about the food; the servers give you a plate of three sauces to dip your food into. One is ginger, one is mustard and the other is supposed to be spicy.  So, I thought I would try the mustard.  My mother told me that a little on my food wasn’t enough to get a good taste, so I put more on.  It was very spicy! I couldn’t get a drink fast enough.

At the end of the meal we asked how to say “thank you” in Japanese.  We were told it is “arigatou” .  So we all thanked our server by saying “arigatou.” I really enjoyed going to Tokyo Restaurant, and I can’t wait to go back.

-John S.