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Apr. 2000, Xene #15
地球トワイライトゾーン File No. 0014〜0019
World Twilight Zone : 3
File No. 0014 上海にて
上海の食堂で「おかゆ」だと思い、メニューの「肝粥」を指差したら、丼山盛りのエスカルゴが出てきた。しかも、1つの殻の中にちびエスカルゴが5、6個入っていて気持ち悪かった。後日、中国通の友人に聞くと、「タニシではないか」と言われた。
-- 札幌市・Chie/会社員
File No. 0015 上海にて
上海のカリスマ美容師にヘアカットしてもらった。50元（1元＝13円）で、頭、腕、背中までたっぷりマッサージしてもらい面白かったが、友人は帽子のようなスタイルにされカンカンだった。
-- 札幌市・Chie/会社員
File No. 0016 バースディー・パーティー
バリ島のクタ・ビーチで現地の人と思われるおばちゃんに話し掛けられた。ちょっと話が盛り上がって、うちの主人がミュージシャンと知ると「明日、母の誕生日なので絶対に絶対に来てほしい」という。ホテルに戻って、ちょっと怪しいかもしれない、と不安になり「明日は行けない」と断りの電話を入れると案の定、「じゃあ、あさってはどうか」と言われた。（ホテルの人によると、現地の人間じゃないらしい…）
-- 札幌市・Miyuki/ミュージシャンの妻
File No. 0017 Misunderstanding
I met an American who was traveling in France.
She had studied French, but her speaking skills
were rusty. She found out just how rusty when
she went to buy some batteries (les pils, in French).
Her requests for "la pillule, la pillule"
were met with curiousity. She later realized she
had been asking for oral contraceptives.
-- Lisa March, USA
File No. 0018 The Hitchhikers
How do you get 10 Irish in a car? It sounds like
a joke, but this is how my childhood vacations
in Ireland were: 10 aunts, uncles, cousins and
brothers packed into a European compact for drives
around the coutryside. My Irish relatives took
these opportunities to show off their mischieveous
humor. Packed 10 to a car, we would stop to pick
up hitchhikers. We wanted to see the surprise
on their face and whether they would realize we
were pulling their leg. "Need a ride?"
my uncle would deadpan out the window. One puzzled
Scandinavian couple replied with genuine seriousness,
"I think you do not have the space."
-- Anonymous
File No. 0019 In
Calcutta, India, 1986:
Like countless Westerners in a desperate search
for a quick but painless cure to spiritual emptiness,
I set off for India. Perhaps I too could find
my guru. While en route to a well known ashram,
I quite spontaneously decided to make a quick
stop at Mother Theresa's orphanage. After receiving
a warm welcome from one of the elderly sisters,
I was given a tour. The pure, happy smiles of
the children were intoxicating. After chatting
for a few minutes, the sister asked me why I had
come to India. With a tinge of pride, I told her
of my spiritual quest. After listening patiently
she simply asked, "And what are you planning
to do for other people?" Her question caught
me quite off guard. I had no answer. In short,
service to others had never crossed my mind. It
took years for me to realize that in one fell
swoop, not only had that sister awakened me to
my own self-absorption but she had even offered
me a way out of my despair.
-- Pierre D'Amours from Sapporo
but originally from Canada
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