fandomhigh | International Cuisine | Monday, first period

"Good morning," Hannibal greeted the class when they arrived at Portalocity. "We'll be heading off for dinner today - the vagaries of international times." Not that he couldn't have gotten a portal to a different time, but there seemed no point at present.

"Today we're going to Tokyo, Japan. Seafood is much more prominent in Japanese cuisine than in the French we had last week, as are rice and noodles; the sauces tend to be lighter. We'll be dining at Mikawa Zezankyo, a restaurant that serves tempura - seafood and vegetables, deep fried. Specifically, this one serves food in the style called Edomae tempura - tempura in the style of the Edo period, approximately one hundred fifty years ago. The chef uses traditional ingredients and techniques that would not have been out of place then."

Their portal opened and he ushered them all through to a small, mostly residential street, where they stood outside an unassuming door. "Chef Tetsuya Saotome prepares all the food himself and will be standing in front of you, so I trust you will all use your best behavior," he told them. "I will demonstrate the use of chopsticks to those of you who've never used them, and I trust your classmates who know how will also help. Also, when we enter, you'll need to remove your shoes and leave them by the door; it's tradition and proper etiquette. If you have any questions, please ask me, as the chef and his assistants do not speak English."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hannibal leaned toward her and picked up one of her chopsticks. "Don't worry. You can hold a pencil?" He handed her just the one stick. "Hold it like that."

He'd clearly never seen her fisted grip of a writing utensil. She grabbed it that way, then glanced around and saw that people were holding them the hard way of writing. With a muffled sigh she awkwardly turned her hand around to mostly hold it the right way.

Hey, she was new to the whole writing and reading thing (and reading was a whole hell of a lot easier - not that that was saying a lot). Before she was 13 she'd never even seen a writing utensil that was more than a stick of charcoal, and that only rarely.

Well, Hannibal's classes hadn't exactly been big on writing.

He nodded. "Almost. Here." He adjusted the stick slightly. "Now move your second finger down a bit."

"Maybe I should just be a watcher today," Kaylin suggested as her fingers slid along the chopstick seemingly with no input from her brain.

"Not at all." Hannibal shifted it once more. "Now. Can you move that up and down?" He demonstrated with his own.

She nodded and demonstrated. "That's not hard. Just the holding my hand this way is weird."

"It's quite awkward if you're not used to it," Hannibal agreed. "Most of the other girls have at least seen them used before, and even so you aren't the only one with difficulties." He picked up the second chopstick and slid it into her hand below the first. "Now, move that first one again. Ignore the other."

"What if it doesn't want to be ignored?" Kaylin said absently, all her concentration on trying to move her fingers the right way. "Wait, like this?"

She found that thinking of it as a new type of weapons training helped and had actually managed a fairly creditable job with the chopsticks.

"Then you tell it to stay still and hold steady," Hannibal answered. "Precisely like that."

If it helped, he could think of several deadly uses for chopsticks.

So could she, now that she was thinking of them that way. Not that she was doing the killing of people thing anymore. Not unless she had no other choice.

"Okay, I think I mostly have it."

"You do," Hannibal agreed. "And you'll improve with practice."

And maybe next week he'd take them somewhere with finger food.

Kaylin nodded absently and began to gingerly attempt to actually eat some of the very strange food.

International Cuisine | Monday, first period

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!

Re: Enter, sit, learn how to use chopsticks!