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No, I did NOT see fireworks.

No, I did not have a cookout containing burgers and hot dogs and potato chips.

No, I did not wave a sparkler around.

No I again, DID NOT see fireworks.

Well I did kindof. Not really though. A bunch of people here made a big bonfire and lit off fireworks over the lake. It was fun for a little while, until people started getting really stupid. When the first firework made it’s way through the crowd of people instead of up into the air, Noel and I decided we had had enough.

This, however, does not mean that we will not see a fabulous firework show in Japan, because we will at the upcoming festival. We just cannot see one today, that’s all. But that still does not stop us from remembering what the Fourth of July stands for.

For this entry I have decided to tell you, in tremendous detail about the quality of McDonalds here. I hope you enjoy the story. I feel it is funny, and every word is completely true, you have my word.

I will explain to you why MA-KU-DO-NA-RA-DO (McDonalds) here is so freaking awesome. First you go and you order. You have to tell them you want a LARGE drink, because the medium drink is the size of a happy meal drink at home. You also have to order an apple pie every visit, i will explain why later, just remember to order the apple pie. While you are ordering you notice that everyone who works at McDonalds is wearing a very complex uniform. The women wear orange shirts with a white shirt, orange vest, black shoes, and even a bow tie. The men wear similar colors, but with navy blue pants, and everyone’s clothes look like they have just come from the cleaners and were ironed prior to coming to work. This sight makes you question what the people at home wear, and then you remember, OH YES, they wear a dirty dark blue shirt with an M on it, tucked in or open, with any kind of pants they chose, clean or dirty (If you don’t believe me, go look). You also notice that the people are all very chipper and happy and smiling and they are actually working hard. You see one lady run to get someone their bag of food. Once you have ordered and paid, a big number is placed in front of you. The man who took your order smiles at you and motions for you to have a seat. As you take you tray that contains you burger, your drink, you apple pie, and your big number 4, you glance behind the counter to watch the person at the fry machine drop in your fries. You sit down and begin to eat your food. Then a lady in her cute clean uniform comes out and brings you your steaming hot fries on a tray, and takes your number away, as she runs back to help the next customer. For a minute you think to yourself that you got lucky, and they ran out of fries and you had to wait to get yours, which would be the equivalent to “please pull up to that door and wait” at home. (You don’t realize until you have visited McDonalds 5 more times that they ACTUALLY make your fries fresh for you. EVERY TIME, fresh HOT fries!!! Do you know what fresh hot McDonalds french fries taste like? can you even remember the last time you got some???? Think all of you, think!) So you almost burn your tongue eating your first fry, and you bite into your also freshly made burger, and you glance at your apple pie, which you are still curious why someone made you buy one of those in the first place, because really, they arn’t all that nice. As many of you already know, a “Hot Apple Pie” from McDonalds is never hot, hardly apple, and tastes more or less like cardboard than a slice of pie… Once you have finished with your fries and burger, you pick up the apple pie and pinch the box between your thumb and your index finger, just enough to allow you to peek inside at your pie. Right away you are a little taken back. With your newfound curiosity you quickly open up the box and pull out your pie. You have to take a minute to squint in wonder at what is sitting at on your tray. It has the same shape as an apple pie from McDonalds at home, but it is clear that this is either NOT an apple pie, or there is a pastry chef in the back-room who made this specially for you. You pick up your pie, noticing that it feels hot, not luke warm as you are used to, and bite into it. Your eyes light up! It is wonderful! It is tasty, it is real apples! It has a hint of cinnamon, the crust is crunchy, and it is so hot that you have to reach for your drink when you are finished. Honestly folks, it really tastes like an apple pie. If someone baked you a fresh apple pie, and then rolled it up and shrunk it, (like they do on those Pizza Roll commercials) that is what it would taste like. It is superb. Once you are finished with your food, feeling both full and fat at the same time, you pick up your tray to take it to the trash, only you are interrupted by the lady you just saw behind the counter. She has run up to you, is smiling, and takes your tray for you, she bows at you and tells you that she is glad you came into eat, thank you, come again (all in Japanese of course, and she says that all in one word by the way). You get up and walk out of McDonalds, feeling quite good that you ate there, very full, and still a little puzzled about where your apple pie could have come from.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 4th, 2004 at 11:03 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.