My friend Mike invited a few people over to his place in Qingxi for a “make-your-own-sushi” party.  In reality it was a “drink beer and watch Gary’s girlfriend make sushi” party.  That’s OK, I’d rather watch other people make my food.

I’m a new-comer to sushi.  I tried it about 30 years ago and made the HUGE mistake of eating a big piece of pickled ginger.  Apparently the world consists of two groups of people,  those who love pickled ginger and those who are repulsed by the putrid taste. I belong to the later group and over the years have been associating sushi with my ill-fated ginger experience.  A couple years ago I tried it again, without the ginger, and decided it was OK.  There are lots of other foods I enjoy more, but I won’t veto sushi anymore if someone suggests it.  I now associate sushi with ice cold Japanese beer.  That seems to help me get past the ginger-related trauma I suffered.