Sunday, January 20, 2013

Hidemi’s Rambling No.451

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From the airport, we were headed for a hotel in London by a charter bus where we were staying for three days. It was still early in the morning and we had a continental breakfast at a restaurant in the hotel, which was included in the package tour. None of us – my parents, my sister and I – knew what a continental breakfast was. After coffee and bread was served, we were waiting for the dish like ham or egg. No matter how long we waited, there was no sign of the dish of course, because it was a continental breakfast. My mother started grumbling and told me to ask our server when it would come. I had attended a Catholic private school that was renowned for its English language education since junior high school and she said she paid high tuition for an occasion just like this. As for me, I myself had thought I could speak English just enough. I asked our server about the dish and instead of answering when it would come, he handed me a menu. My mother said, “You asked for ham, and he gave you a menu! So much for your English!” That upset me badly and I lost confidence in my English totally. In hindsight though, I could have gotten it through to him since we needed a menu to order the dish that wasn’t served as part of a continental breakfast. But at that time, I thought I failed to communicate in English and I got a huge shock. We were out of time and left the restaurant without the dish. The rest of the day was spent for sightseeing in London as a schedule of the package tour. While we went around the tourist attractions by the charter bus, I was dazed all day from my long sleepless hours, jet lag and the shock of my English. On top of that, I had developed a weird symptom. I usually ate a lot but I found I had lost appetite completely since I arrived in London. Although the tour included the gorgeous lunch and dinner, I could eat so little. A sleepless long flight really cost me dearly…


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