Eventually, it was time for dinner. The 4 girls went into the kitchen and looked over the food. There was takoyakis, okonomiyakis, onigiri, sushi, ramen, etc. There also was green, red, and black tea, milk, juice, and water for drinks.
Kuki and Mushi each took a cup of ramen and black tea. Jenni took two triangle-shaped onigiri rice balls and red tea to match her hair color. And Kira took a roll of kappamaki sushi, a fish cake, and green tea. The 4 girls also took chopsticks with them.
They went to a low rectangular table set with 8 stools and sat in traditional Japanese style. "Do you do this in your home country?" asked Jenni. "Sometimes. We usually sit in chairs. We sit like this when we eat Japanese food," said Kuki.
"Oh, okay," said Jenni, "me, Kira, and Papa mostly sit in chairs like you, and we sit on the floor during special occasions."
The girls talked for a little bit until Akira said, "Okay, young ladies, enough chit-chat, it's time to eat." "Hai, gomen'nasai. Okay, sorry," said the girls. "Goshinpainaku. Don't worry about it," said Akira, and then he went to sit with the grown-ups.
The girls saw Chiyo, Kita, Takiyaro, and Keri come by and they sat with them, carrying wet towels with them. The kids each took a wet towel and wiped their hands on them. The adults did the same thing. When they were done, each of them said, "itadakimasu" meaning "I'll enjoy the food".
After dinner, everyone said, "Tabemono arigato", meaning "Thanks for the food", and they put each of their dishes in the kitchen sink.
End of Chapter 5