[Journier]

I was with my National Guard unit training with the Japanese Ground Defense Forces in Obihiro, Japan. We were at a dinner hosted by the unit we were training with. At my table, Japanese Ground Defense members were on one side of each table; while we, their guests, were on the other, all of us in uniform. I picked up a slice of what appeared to be a very dark, almost black, pickled beet with my chop sticks. Got two, as one was attached at the edge, and placed it in my mouth. I don't know what it was, but it was the most horrible and spicy thing I have ever eaten in my life. I had stopped chewing for a moment and felt as if every pair of eyes on the other side of that table were staring at me. Suddenly the word "diplomacy" entered my mind for just a moment and somehow I found the wherewithal to chew and swallow the foul stuff. Relations with Japan were maintained and a war was avoided, despite my nausea.