Sushi anyone?

Last night I had the wonderful privilege to eat dinner at a former colleagues house. Waunita was the ESL teacher at Urbana High School, and I worked with her while I did my student teaching. Her husband is Japanese, and teaches Japanese language and culture at Parkland College. Waunita has since retired, and I have changed schools, but she still likes me well enough to invite me to eat dinner. Bruce was in Iowa at a conference, so he didn't get to enjoy the company like I did. Not only did she invite me, but she invited two other men from her church. One if from Bulgaria and is the choir director for her church, and the other is from Romania and is the Organist at her church. I don't really remember their names, and even if I did, I wouldn't spell them right anyway, so sorry! Takuo and Waunita spent a lot of time preparing an elegant seafood meal. Now, I must admit, I am not a seafood fan. I don't really even like Tuna Fish unless it has a lot of mayonnaise in it to offset the taste. They wanted to make an authentic Japanese meal, and I must admit I was nervous. I helped cook the Chicken Kabob's, but the real "treat" of the meal was Sushi. We were given various ingredients, and told to roll it ourselves. The secret to Sushi actually lies in the rice, and not necessarily the fish - at least that is what I was told. We had fried shrimp, crab legs, fresh avocados, and cucumbers to put in our sushi. After much anticipation, I decided I would be brave for once. I had to tell my mind that it is okay, and perfectly healthy to eat raw fish as long as it is fresh enough. I grabbed my little square of seaweed (which kind of sticks to the roof of your mouth), put my vinegar flavored rice, a slice of avocado, and Red Snapper raw fish. I rolled it all up, dipped it in Soy Sauce, and took a deep breath. I took a bite, and must say that it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It had a very distinct taste, but it wasn't as disgusting as Sushi really sounds. I was only brave enough to eat one roll, mostly because I psyched myself out in thinking about it too much, but I thought that was improvement. I am grateful Waunita and Takuo continue to invite me over, even if I am not a big Seafood fan. It's too bad Bruce couldn't come, he would have loved it. The company was great too. It was neat talking to these men from all over the world. What a memorable experience.