Fascinating people everywhere

Here I am back in Minnesota after five days in poor, chilled Florida. 

 

In last week’s column I joked my sister-in-law Joan and I were victims of a weather conspiracy–jinxed by snow that delayed our southbound flight and by overnight freezes with low temperatures the state had not seen in 15 years or more.

 

Perhaps you will be glad to learn the weather did not spoil our trip but, as Joan and I discussed during our on-time northbound flight, had perhaps made it even more memorable.

 

Probably most of you have been to one or more of the Disney theme parks and don’t need much description from me. Frankly I hope that’s the case, since only  a quick summary of all we saw and did would require many thousands of words of description, even though we were only there for three days.

 

A point I am focusing on here is that many attractions and locations at the parks offer atmospheres, cuisine and merchandise meant to represent places and practices from all over the world. That led Joan and me to talk about places we have already traveled to and places we would still like to visit.

 

Both Joan and I had “life abroad” experiences during our years in college. She lived in Great Britain for about a year, I had the good fortune to study in Germany for about half as long. Since then, she has been quite a few places including Italy, Australia, and the Virgin Islands. I returned to Europe for three weeks on a trip with my mother, but have made much less use of my passport than she has.

 

Joan listed numerous places she would still like to go–and I bet she’ll get to many of them.

My perspective is quite different. I have decided the world is so full of variety and uniqueness I will never experience it all, so I am mostly content to learn what I can through reading, viewing, and having conversations with people whose paths intersect with mine.

Rather than a general acquaintance with many places, I tend to focus on an intimate connection with the places and people special to me.

 

I am not claiming either approach is better, only that they are different ways of deciding our priorities.

 

I have said more than once that the best part of being a writer for a small-town paper is getting to know the people who live here, their stories, and their connections. There is no one who is not fascinating. 

 

I was reminded of how fascinating people can be when I met “Prince,” the chef who prepared our meal at Teppan Edo, a Japanese style restaurant at Disney’s Epcot Park.

Prince informed us he had worked at the Disney park in Tokyo for six years before moving to the U.S. 

 

As he prepared our food at our table, he handled his spatula and other items with remarkable dexterity, flicking them lightly from one hand to another and even tossing them over his shoulder and catching them behind his back. He shared humorous banter the whole time as well.

 

Along with all that, the food he served us was delicious.

 

As we asked him questions, he informed us he has always enjoyed preparing food and found it an ideal career. He said the food we were being served was prepared and served much like it would have been in Japan.

 

But as for the flipping, spinning and showmanship techniques, he admitted lightheartedly, “I learned those on YouTube.”

 

There are fascinating people everywhere. The fun is in finding them and getting them to share their stories.