In Japan, for the first time ever in my life…..

I drank coffee. :-) I know it probably seems like an anti-climactic statement to you, but it marked a milestone in my life. I’ve never had the desire to drink coffee and hence never have….had, that is. It’s never been a problem to turn down coffee in the States, but there have been many an anxious moment for me either in mentally preparing to go overseas or actually being overseas where the chances that I would be served coffee as a guest in someone’s home or in a professional situation were very high. It had been beaten into my consciousness that to turn down the cup of coffee would be offensive. Of course I don’t want to offend anyone, but does that mean I have to suck it up and down the bean juice? I don’t know how I avoided it up to this point, but apparently I lucked out in every said situation and was either served tea automatically or asked which one I preferred before the liquid made its appearance.

My luck only lasted until the 2nd week after my arrival in Japan. Almost 30 years of pride down the tube. During my first visit to one of my junior high schools, I sat down not even 2 minutes into the visit and suddenly a cup of coffee appeared in front of me. In a country renowned for its politeness (understatement), there was no way I was going to test the “turn it down” waters in Japan, let alone on the first day I was meeting my future co-workers. Luckily the coffee cup was accompanied with a saucer laden with cream and sugar and you can bet the house that it all went in order to make it as indiscernible as a cup of coffee as possible.

The coffee-serving continued for about two weeks, following me to my first visit to my other junior high school (dang it all!). Then one day I noticed I hadn’t slept well for about, oh, two weeks, and was having crazy dreams. It could have been anything- the heat, new surroundings, unfamiliar language, another screw coming loose – but I blamed the coffee and suddenly it was no longer an issue for me to refuse to drink the stuff. No one (at least outwardly) seemed offended, and I’m sure they are happier to serve me Japanese tea (green tea) because it’s Japanese and I like it (which makes people happy). However, the cuppa-joe reared its ugly head at me again last week when I renewed my visits to the lesser visited of my 3 elementary schools. Seeing as how it was the New Year and I didn’t visit there often, there was something about being served 2 cups of coffee that day that I just couldn’t bring myself to refuse. Experiencing the side-effects again though brought me back to my senses and I am proud to announce that this morning’s coffee offering at that same elementary school went back where it came from and was replaced by a lovely cup of Japanese tea. Um Himmel’s Willen, my experimental coffee-drinking days are over. :-)