[47: Sister]
(Sea-Tac Airport)
Unfortunately, the time for vacation came to an end. They passed the last day in Anchorage before heading to the airport. Now, they were in Seattle, having to wait a long time for the flight to Tokyo.
Momo and Ochaco were scrolling and viewing the photos and videos they took of their vacations, eagerly talking about what they experienced. Eleanor, meanwhile, was looking out the windows of the airport sadly. "I don't want to go," she muttered. It may be Seattle, but it was close enough to Alaska for her.
Ochaco and Momo heard her. "Hey, you can always come back, you know?" Ochaoc tried to comfort her.
"The summer break is long, so you can just come back on another trip," Momo said.
Eleanor sighed. "I know, but…it's not enough."
"How about we talk about something else?" Ochaco asked. "Tell us more about America. What's it like?"
"Well, that's a very broad question and kind of very hard to answer," Eleanor said.
"Okay, uh, what is America's…food like? Like, beyond Alaska," Ochaco asked.
"Okay, now that I can tell you about. Let's get into food that reflects American culture. Man, where do I even begin? Well, let's begin by destroying any misconceptions you might have about American food, or what uneducated Europeans call 'Actually, that comes from this European country.' For example, the hamburger. If you hear someone say that the hamburger is 'German,' because of 'Hamburg,' you can safely disregard and ignore any opinions they have about American food," Eleanor said.
"What?" Ochaco was a bit confused.
"You see, the many times I've seen Europeans try to belittle American cuisine, it's like they have some kind of need or want to look better. To me, it honestly looks like they have some kind of inferiority complex when it comes to American food, or are uneducated or misinformed. You guys are from Japan, so let's see if you are better educated. Tell me some American dishes," Eleanor said.
"That's easy. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken…uh…that's all I can think of. Uh, is that bad?" Ochaco asked.
"What do you mean? You did fine," Eleanor said.
"I mean like…is that stereotypical?" Ochaco asked.
"What? If you're worried I feel offended or something, relax, I'm not offended. Why would I feel offended about someone knowing the food of my country?" Eleanor said.
"Oh, I guess I overthought it," Ochaco said.
"Then can you tell us more food?" Momo asked.
"Of course. Counting the ones Ochaco mentioned, we have chocolate chip cookies, Texas brisket, fajitas, orange chicken, General Tso's chicken, German chocolate cake, key lime pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, smores, chicken and waffles, California roles, philly cheesestakes, deep-dish pizza, buffalo wings, lobster rolls, clam chowder, pecan pie, eggs benedict, cornbread, gumbo, seafood boil, soul and cajun food, and mac and cheese. Those are just to name a few," Eleanor said.
"Wait, hold on a minute, most of those dishes sound—" Ochaco was interrupted by Eleanor.
"They don't sound 'American?' Is that what you want to say? Let me clear it up. German chocolate cake. That's not German. The reason it has 'German' in its name is that the person who made it was named German. So, 'German' refers to the name, not the country. Look, all these dishes were made in America, that's what you need to know," Eleanor said.
"So, what countries have the best food?" Ochaco asked.
"Well, at number one is America, of course," Eleanor said.
"Isn't that a bit biased?" Momo asked.
"What‽ An American is putting their own country at the number one spot for best food in the world in a ranking that is purely opinion and prone to bias‽ No way! I'm so shocked!" Eleanor pretended to be dramatically surprised. "That was sarcasm, by the way," Eleanor said.
"Yeah, yeah, I could tell," Momo said.
"So, here's my ranking. America at one. Mexico at two. Japan at three. China at four, and Thailand at five," Eleanor said.
"No European countries?" Ochaco asked.
"Italy is the only one in Europe that I can say I like their food. I gave my top five, but Italy is in my top ten. So, what else do you two want to know about America?" Eleanor asked.
This time, it was Momo who asked. "What is the government in America like? I mean, I know they vote and stuff, but I want to learn more."
Eleanor exhaled and rubbed her forehead. "Geez, okay. Uh. Damn, Momo, that's quite the topic. Okay, I'm just going to keep it simple and basic. The United States of America is a constitutional federal republic and a representative democracy. We have three branches of government called the legislative, judicial, and executive that serve as checks on each other's power. We use an electoral college system to determine the president, and we choose between democrats and republicans for president and other offices, but independent and third-party candidates sometimes get chosen for Congress or other state or local offices. That's about as simple as I can make it before getting into the insane nuance, craziness, and complete nonsense that encompasses our government," Eleanor said.
"Can you make it not simple? Like, just a little further in-depth?" Momo asked.
Eleanor sighed. "Alright, fine, but not too much. First, let's get rid of some misconceptions and wrong ideas. The first thing you might hear people say is that 'the U.S isn't a democracy; it's a republic.' When someone says this, they genuinely think they're introducing you to federalism and the separation of powers, but really, they don't know what they're talking about. The thing is, a democracy and a republic don't oppose each other at all. A democracy is a system where power ultimately lies with the people, and a republic is a system where leaders and representatives elected by the people govern and rule within a legal framework. As I mentioned earlier, the United States is both. We choose representatives to govern within the constraints of the Constitution, which is a form of democracy. Both are right, one is just more specific. When people say we aren't a democracy, they're thinking of direct democracy. So, to say that the United States is a republic and not a democracy is a fundamental misunderstanding of what those words mean. Now, that's not to say I like the government or anything, it's just how it works," Eleanor explained.
"So…you don't like the government?" Ochaco asked.
"Don't like? Let me put it like this. If I said what I wanted to do to all the people in my government, I'd get in a lot of trouble," Eleanor said.
"Oh, uh, alright then," Ochaco said.
Just then, the intercom system in their area announced something. "We'll now begin boarding procedures for the flight to Tokyo."
"Ah, damn, do we really have to go? Must I really return back to Japan?" Eleanor looked out the window again. It was so close, yet so very far.
"We kind of have to," Momo said.
"You think I can get political asylum?" Eleanor said.
"What? How can you get asylum in the place you're from?" Ochaco said.
"You really miss Alaska that much?" Momo asked.
"What? No," Eleanor said.
Ochaco and Momo were confused now. They thought Eleanor was feeling homesick after this week.
"...What?" Ochaco said.
"I like UA and all of you. It's just…I don't look forward to being steamed alive for two months in Japan. Like, look at this." Eleanor pulled a weather report on her phone. "91 degrees Fahrenheit with an 82% humidity‽ Aw, hell nah! That heat index is insane! I'm going to shut myself in my dorm with the air conditioning on full blast," Eleanor said.
"Oh…I see. It may be bad, but it's not that bad," Momo said.
'You'll see. You'll dream of the temperature in Alaska. I'll even take Seattle," Eleanor said.
The girls boarded the plane. Ochaco and Momo were excited, but Eleanor was acting like she was heading to her doom.
/\\//\\//\
(10 hours later. Narita International Airport.)
After the plane landed and the girls got out, they retrieved their luggage. It was nice so far, because of the air conditioning, but as soon as they stepped out, a wall of hot air hit them straight on.
"Okay, why is it so hot?" Ochaco asked.
"This is…a lot warmer than usual," Momo said.
"I told you so," Eleanor said. She immediately reached into her luggage, or at least, was pretending to. She summoned a drone in the luggage, pretending to pull it out. That's right, it was the drone for air conditioning and blasting cold air. She pretended to turn it on, and it got straight to work.
"Why is it so hot?" Ochaco asked.
"I know why. We've gotten used to the weather in Alaska, and now this feels a lot worse than what we usually think," Momo said.
Eleanor let out a sigh of relief. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff. Well, I guess we'll go our separate ways now. I'll get a ride back to the school, and you two will go back to your homes. It's been a lot of fun, and I'll see you two back in school when the next semester starts.
"See ya, Eleanor." Ochaco waved goodbye.
"Thanks for the invitation," Momo said.
It was time to get back to life in Japan and at UA.