*** Quoting Cindy Haglund from a message to Carol Shenkenberger ***


 CS> about or didn't perceive the same way as the other person did.  My
 CS> saving grace is I apologize well when that happens.  I B socially
 CS> 'blonde' sometimes.

CH>  OH isn't it awful ...  I mean it's like falling on your butt and to
CH> think some people misinterpret others deliberately. When I am misread
CH> always feel far worse for the wear.


Sae here, but i get over it fast.

CH> I read there's two Japanese alphabets. The one using the Chinese
CH> characters, for men and the phonetic one for women. Why do they have
CH> two? Is it because the one for women was meant as oral and not
CH> written?

 CS> I do not know about the social aspects the book mentions.  There are
 CS> indeed 2 character types but both men and women learn both.  At least,
 CS> now.  Dunno about earlier but i suspect it was more a 'scholar vs
 CS> common person' relation.

CH>  Yes this was mentioned, both alphabets are learned by both genders.
CH> And yes I agree on the latter point. Maybe something akin to Plain
CH> English and Legalese ... heh...  The latter being the way it is not to
CH> 'set the more educated apart' but rather to be able to mislead the un
CH> informed more easily. Can't have us common folk knowing' too much ya
CH> know. :) we might get wised up and make work harder for those so
CH> called up and ups whose very lap of luxury livelihoods depend so much
CH> on keeping us regular folks in the dark/misled. :) (This  phenomena is
CH> universal.)

Dunno, but now adays, kids all learn both.  No class distinction on it at
all ¨that I know of.


CH> It is interesting. This right /left thing. The Brits drive on the left
CH> side of the road. I don't see any 'reason' other than it got started a
CH> certain way and became habit.

I think theirs was the standard and USA swapped or something at the time of
the ¨revolution?  Those patterns of driving, date back to horse and buggy
use times ¨and cars followed the same pattern.

Some of Europe 'swapped' and I've seen mention of it before in echos.

CH> Do you suppose one explanation for the left to right reading and
CH> writing might lie in hand preference? In our culture anyway right

No, because right handedness is universally prevalent in humans and there
is no ¨difference among the races on it that I know of.  It's possible it's
a little ¨more 'common' in some races, but still not the 'norm' to be
lefty.

 CS> Not much more than you and in fact, you may know more.  I am sure they
 CS> don't study it 8-10 hours a day though for 5 years (grin).

CH>  True just as kids are not really in school for 12 years. And a 'year'
CH>  in school is actually only three months.

Not unless you mean 24/7 school.  Sorry but the Japanese run about like our
¨schools for number of days, being only a little more (10-15 days I think).
 The ¨difference is they have lots of week to 2 week breaks but no 'summer
3 months ¨off' pattern.

In the USA, that pattern I am told developed around the need to have the
kids ¨free for the harvesting season.  Spring break came from spring
planting season.
Your area many vary on 'spring break' but in some places, it's 3 weeks long
¨while Xmas is only 2 weeks, and in others, that reverses or can even drop
to 1 ¨week 'spring break' and an earlier graduation date.  The number of
days per ¨year is pretty consistant across the USA though.

CH> The sashimi chefs probably have to deal with cutting up the fish body
CH> and they probably figure most people don't want to see that?  The
CH> Japanese restaurants here are no longer handing out those warm
CH> washcloths. I guess you need to ask for one and ask if you can keep it
CH> at the table because  if we eat sushi in the way it is meant to be;
CH> with the fingers, we'd need to clean our fingers off AFTER eating it.
CH> The sushi IS sticky after all. BTW my wasbabe tolerance is going up!
CH> yeah!!!

Grin, probably right on the sashimi chef there except that in Japan, people
¨arent squeemish about such so not all that sure.

I just realized that in high class Japanese restraunts, one might use
¨chopsticks for sushi rolls.  In fact, I normally do but no one looks funny
at ¨you if you 'finger food' it and plenty do.


 CS> Sushi chefs are often on display though (and are often also Sashimi

CH>  I imagine the new ones must deal with  getting over being watched.
CH> They probably do by watching each other while practicing. The grill
CH> chefs are fascinating too and always ad Flourish with those big
CH> knives..and I like how FAST they clean off the hot grill .. steaming
CH> it off and scraping.  That reminds me. When you want to clean a pan
CH> you have fried food in, or the removable grills of the George Forman
CH> Grill..  get it under the hot water while still hot, run a brush over
CH> it and VIOLA clean ! Don't even need soap!

I'm not very fond of the GF grill stuff.  It is fine for others but my
cookery ¨is different enough that it's not a useful appliance for me.  I
know others who ¨love them though so they fit a need.

I'm a crockpot type of cooker and a frypan sort with an almost wok-like use
o ¨fthe frypan.  I also use my rotisserie (mine is the vertical type called
a ¨vertisserie) pretty often.  I've been known to have to dust out the
stove ¨before use because it's been so long, it grew dust-bunnies in there
.

My friends tell me I range from mere 'good cook' to 'sublime' but I do not
fix ¨much that would be traditional USA style faire all that often.  My
stuff is ¨normally simple, fast, and tastey and has no relation to a GF
grill style but ¨is low-fat in the same way those are designed to create.

 CS> Granted we've all tired of Emeril's 'Bam' but when a Japanese sushi
 CS> chef does it with a little gleam of glee to the eye as he throws roe
 CS> on a chopped block preparatory to adding it to sushi, it's a giggle
 CS> and a half.

CH>   :) Nothing like watching someone doing something they enjoy doing
CH> and doing it so well! The confidence they express is inspiring.
CH> ((Yes some cynics might say : they like to show off.... well that may
CH> be true but you can always tell about that by the degree of flourish..
CH> that its controlled and modest. They don't go overboard.

True.  It's fun to watch.  It's part of the total experience to have a chef
¨make the food before you with a little flair.


 CS> Maybe the tea ceremony folks take 5 years practice on average to get
 CS> the smotheness of motion down?  That could be it.

CH>   When the Marji (SP) ear started it is said to have become more of a
CH> 'hobby' like falconry than a National Pastime supported by the Shogun
CH> class etc. I find Japanese history fascinating. Learning a bit new
CH> every day and I plan to read other sources. It's equally fascinating
CH> to compare notes of different sources and Espcially when the info
CH> comes from the Japanese rather than others writing about it.

Yes.  I havent gotten that much into the history, as the current culture.

                                       xxcarol

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