Want a Good Laugh?

Ken and I are pretty good sports.  Anytime you are in a different culture, you are exposed to many things you have never seen or heard of.  We are often given gifts or food that we don't know what it is, but we always try it.  The problem is exacerbated because we can't read kanji.  I'll tell you, this experience has taught me what it would be like to be illiterate- unable to read.  You just kind of stumble through life, hoping for the best.  One of the most common phrases we say to each other is, "I don't know.  We're in Japan."

The Japanese people are so very giving.  Rarely do we come home from church without at least one gift from someone in the branch.  They think about us and bring us things.  They are so kind and so generous.  Last week, Sister Nomura gave me a package of things and said they are Okashi.  Okashi means snacks or treats.  So I looked inside.  These inviting little tablets were among the gifts.  So, I unwrapped one.

See.  Doesn't it look like a giant sweet tart?

So I took a lick.  YUCK!  It was terrible.  I quickly wrapped it back up.  When we got home, I looked at the package more closely and saw that it looked like it was bubbling and dissolving in water.  So I got out a pitcher and put it in the water.  Sure enough, it bubbled and turned a beautiful orange color.  It looked and smelled delicious, kind of orange or citrusy.  We each took a little sip.  YUCK!  This is awful!!!  I can't believe anyone would drink this stuff.  We dumped it down the sink. 
It wasn't until the middle of the night that it dawned on me what those tablets were:  BATHSALTS!  I remembered Sister Nomura had asked me if I take ofuros or baths and I told her I did.  So she had given me bath salts and  we tried to drink them!!!  When I told Ken the next morning, we certainly had a good laugh about it . . . and continue to whenever we think about it. 
Oh, and there were okashi in the bag as well, little flavored rice cakes.  So she wasn't trying to fool me.  I did that on my own!