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Cinderella
A
date and Middle Eastern cuisine
By Pierre
Coda (Continued from
Cinderella
meets a man)
There he was, seriously studying a box of Middle Eastern rice
pilaf. I fixed my hair, opened the top button of my jacket to
fully expose my camisole and grabbed a shopping basket. My
heart was beating faster and I immediately asked myself, "Why?" I just wanted to look at him (and of course him to
look at me and get a sense that we both have things in common).
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As I moved to the aisle for international foods and
pretended to look at Moroccan couscous, he turned around and simply asked me, "Excuse me! Have you ever eaten this rice?"
I almost choked and had a hard time holding on to my shopping basket. After several moments of deadly silence, I
finally muttered, "Oh! This is delicious if you like spicy food
with rich flavor. I have been a big fan of Middle Eastern culture for years and have even taken lessons in
belly
dancing". (Related:
Paris Hilton bellydancing video) I suddenly realized that I had told him a lot more than someone
would in the very first sentence to a stranger. He seemed interested in continuing the conversation even though I realized
he might be thinking, "What does this woman think? How does she assume that I want to know almost everything about
her life when all I wanted to know was about this box of rice?"
(Related article: How
to start a conversation with a perfect stranger?)
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 While I was still trying to compose myself and pretending to
look at a pasta box, he turned to me and said in the politest of
Japanese, "I know I am being too demanding but if you do not mind, maybe you can show me how to cook some Middle-Eastern dishes sometime.
I particularly like mint
tea. I live in the area and
I guess you do
too. Do you feel like some hot and spicy food tonight?" I could not believe what I was hearing - a guy that I have been
dreaming about for weeks is asking me to join him for dinner.
"Oh yes, I would love to," I responded. "Well then, let me buy
some more beer and maybe we can walk back together to my apartment. It is just a few minutes walk from
here," he
immediately offered in a manner that I could not simply say no.
As we walked, he apologized once again for being so rude in
asking me to help. Of course, I was already feeling dizzy without a sip of beer. When I stepped inside the door, I was
shocked. It was not only spotlessly clean but also artistically
decorated - no beer cans or manga or dirty underwear on the floor. I was feeling uncomfortable being in the apartment of
someone I barely knew, but he brought me a glass for beer and asked me to relax while he changed. As I sipped my beer, he
emerged dressed a lot more casual in a yellow T-shirt and blue
Japanese
jeans. He brought along a hanger and suggested that I take my jacket off so that it does not get spoiled as we worked in the
kitchen. Of course, I did feel a little conscious in my lace camisole that clung to my
body. As I put on the apron, he helped me tie it at the back as I tied his.
I chopped the vegetables and talked to him about my
background, job, hobbies, and asked him a lot of questions. He
grew up in Nagano prefecture and has been working in Tokyo for just about 6 months. He is used to
home-cooked
meals, he
said, and cannot imagine eating junk food at the station every
day. He does go out but still does not have many friends yet in
Tokyo so he prefers to try new dishes by himself at home. He has been fascinated by some aspects of Middle-Eastern culture,
especially belly dancing, but has not had much direct experience either with the cuisine or the dance. He
teased, "May be you can practice your dance sometime for me!"
Despite the fact that he and I had just known each other, I
enjoyed being with him. He was simple, quiet, relaxed, flexible, and very patient with me. He did look at me a couple
of times but I only saw admiration and desire in his eyes. "Am
I dreaming or is this for real?" I asked myself.
The meal was great. We drank lots of beer to reduce the hot
and spicy flavor. I was so glad to have someone like Hiroo with me tonight. As I teased him, he teased me too. I was
starting to fall in love with him. He said that he would love to
spend more time with me if I wished so that we could discover new dishes together. He was fascinated by foreign cultures and
he would love to have company to explore them. "Here is my cell phone number. If you don't feel like cooking, just ask me
to be your chef", he added as he handed me his business card.
Continued:
Falling in love |
