I was strolling through one of the many food booths at Tokyo Narita Airport's Terminal 2. This lady was bouncing along to the counter ecstatic at the opportunity to try Japan's national food of ramen noodles.
She puts her finger down on the menu card on one of the choices"Japanese noodles?".
The vendor replies "Yes. Japanesu noodles. Hai!" The woman bubbles in glee and beams a smile at her fortune.
"Pork?" The vendor shakes her head, "No pork. Beef"
The woman takes a slow breath in disappointment rethinking her options. Then she points to another picture on the menu card. "This one?" The vendor nods, "Japanese noodles and beancurd."
The woman cracks a smile again. Success! She hops in excitement. "Yes! Do you take Canadian money?" The vendor again shakes her head, "No, we accept US dollars."
The woman's smile disappears and morphs into an expression of eternal sadness and disappointment. Crestfallen at her final defeat she whimpers and trudges on in search of another chance for a bowl of Japanese noodles.
(I never did figure out if she got to eat noodles. The irony here was that there was a currency exchange centre about 50 feet down the concourse of the terminal from the food mart)
Mesmerized by this roller coaster of emotional crescendos and falls I was almost as excited as the lady watching her experience the tumult of excitement and disappointment.
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