Sushi Mats and Roasted Piglets

Some of you may know that John loves sushi. Previously, I've sent him Rice Krispies sushi, but this time, John sent me a list of ingredients he wanted so he could try making real sushi over there. He was inspired by some of his coworkers who made their own a few weeks ago.

I trucked down to the local Asia Mart (which is the real deal-- they sell platters of roasted baby pigs in their deli) and found powdered wasabi, a sushi mat, chopsticks, soy sauce, seaweed sheets, and (my favorite item in the I-found-this-by-chance-while-I-was-stumbling-around-poorly-lit-and-illogically-stocked-grocery-aisles category) instant miso soup. I was lucky to find everything in one store, but it took 45 minutes and three different clerks before we could scape together enough English and gestures to locate all of the items.

Then, it was off to Wally World to find as many packets of Sweet 'n' Spicy Tuna Creations as I could. It's the only flavor that isn't stocked at John's PX. I looked like a crazy cat woman (which, perhaps, isn't too hard for me) as I shoveled all of their remaining stock into a shopping basket. I left no Sweet 'n' Spicy tuna packet behind. When I got up to the check out, a middle aged, jovial clerk took one look at my stash, laughed unabashedly, and said, "Um, what do you do with all of these?" Because I am proud of him (but also because I didn't want to be labeled a tuna-hoarding freak-- after all, some of my former students work there), I explained about John. The clerk smiled and said to tell John that she said, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart." She reiterated this request twice before I left the cash register. As I was heading towards the exit, she yelled after me, "Remember to tell him! Don't forget, now!"

Somehow, I jammed all of this into a large Priority box and still had a tiny bit of space left. To fill it, I put some homemade granola bars in the box. I wrapped it with about half a roll of packing tape. Overkill, maybe, but I had to overcome a language barrier, see a roasted baby pig, and act like the subject for the next episode of Hoarders, so there was no way I was leaving the safety of that package up to chance.

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