Strange Lesson
I have learnt many things since coming to Japan but I’m not always conscious of having learnt them.
During the summer I was taken on a boat trip on the Aegean sea. It stopped a few times so that we could swim but the sea was cold and I found it more enjoyable to sit on the deck and read. During one such stop there was suddenly a lot of commotion. My little sister was screaming and running away from Mehmet, the captain.
Mehmet had gone diving and returned with an octopus. He had put this on his head and was chasing the woman and children around the boat. He came rushing up to me and waited for me to run away. But sticking an octopus on your head is not going to scare me. Even threatening to put in on my chest is not going to have much effect. I have eaten small octopus whole, I have seen them on sushi, freeze dried as snacks, and had them cooked in batter. A live one is not a frightening thing and certainly not one that’s safe enough for a person to carry about on their head.
Mehmet and the Octopus
September 30th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Somewhere, Mark Jason Dominus is reading this and feeling very jealous of the captain 😉
September 30th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
I’m wondering whether or not to attempt this national delicacy when I move to Korea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sannakji
Yum! 😉
October 1st, 2009 at 12:54 am
Hercynium: I was told that the captain liked to do this on every boat trip. After he finish chasing people around he did put the octopus back. They are curious creatures and I can see why MJD likes them.
Hails: that is so not something that I am going to eat! I’m not that fond of eating octopus. I prefer them cooked – but they can be really chewy. And I only ate the small ones whole because they were in a strange sauce and at first I thought they were some sort of mushroom. Once I realised that the poor things had tentacles and bodies I stopped eating them.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:26 am
I like octopuses because they’re the nearest thing we have to an alien intelligence here on Earth. Also because they’re weird, smart, and scary, just like me!