Restaurant Visit Project

Last weekend, my friends were talking about visiting a Hibachi restaurant nearby; I was completely unaware of such a term and was scared to confess my lack of knowledge and preceded to lookup the reference in order to redeem my ignorance. A Hibachi is a Japanese word that describes a round or square device that holds heated charcoal. North Americans have replaced the traditional Japanese meaning of the word Hibachi, “fire bowl”, with the meaning for their word Shichirin. Hearing the word Hibachi in the US refers to a type of restaurant in which the chef comes directly to your table and prepares your food in front of your eyes on a stove top similar to the classic Japanese Hibachis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibachi).

I visited a Japanese Hibachi restaurant, Asuka on College Avenue, with a few of my friends to celebrate a birthday. When walking in, we were warmly greeted and brought to our table. Not long after our order was taken, our personal chef, who was Japanese, arrived at the stove top in front of our semi-circular table. He awed us with tricks including: the throwing and catching of an egg with a spatula, creating a cylinder of sliced onions and causing it to arise in flames as we sang “Happy Birthday”, and forming the shape of a heart with fried rice. The food was absolutely excellent and incredibly fresh. I stepped out of my ordinary go-to poultry dish and ordered an item from the seafood category: shrimp. To my surprise, I greatly enjoyed the shrimp our chef prepared and I would recommend it to anybody, even those who normally steer clear of salt water creatures. My friends allowed me to sample their orders and I was very impressed with the chicken and vegetables, but shockingly, I did not want to trade anymore of my shrimp for more of the other platters.

It has finally been brought to my attention why Hibachi restaurants have become increasingly popular. My night at Asuka was not only a fantastic meal, but also a fun and memorable experience. Luckily, there are Hibachi restaurants being established all over. Locally in Bloomington, Asuka is the only Hibachi restaurant that I have heard mention of, but in Indianapolis, there are several to choose from: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&view=text&hl=en&q=Hibachi&near=Bloomington%2C+IN&btnG=Search+Businesses.

This post is my response to the Restaurant Visit Project.

Folklore in My Life.

Every day, I am presented with different opportunities to recognize folklore; through conversations, habits, surroundings, and many more interactions. While reading and studying the various definitions to folklore, I am specifically reminded of a creative way in which I communicate with friends from around the world. Using ideas formulated from Ann Brashares book series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and the popular movie, three of my “sisters” and me share and send around a special pair of earrings. In the book series, four best friends mail a pair of pants around to one another during the summer while they are all away from home. I send my special earrings to Holland, Michigan, where my older sister attends college, to two of our great friends who live in Trondheim, Norway, and then south in Caracas, Venezuela, and back to Bloomington, Indiana; and repeat. We inherited this idea from the movie because we loved the idea of keeping in touch and not only sending letters, but also including the earrings which are a physical reminder of our bond and closeness even though there are many miles between us.

My “sisters” and I made this concept our own and live it out day to day. It is not a dead cultural activity only portrayed in the movies, but it is active, evolving, and a new tradition in my life.

This post corresponds to the assignment Chapter 1 Reflection.