Layers of Food, Fashion & Phonetics

If there's one thing I haven't yet mastered in Japanese culture it's layers. Student female fashion involves coat over necklace over jumber over dress over trousers. Or shorts and long boots. Many layers of different lengths, quite an assortment that in England at least (or maybe when you're just over 25), you just wouldn't think of putting together. I tried it today, not sure if I did it right or not. Then when I pick food in the unviersity cafeteria, there's lots of little dishes on offer, and I'm never sure how many I'm supposed to take to fill my gap and make up a 'normal' meal, and in which combination. And half of those on offer aren't on display, so I am always envious of those who walk away with a scrummy looking dish which i would have gobbled up if I had known it existed. Ah well, the delights of living in a foreign culture! Joy Hendry wrote a great book which I read in Oxford, likening the many layers of kimonos to present wrapping in Japan, not missing the various layers of politness esqueued in the Japanese language, to enlarge on this same topic. Over New Year, when I was given my kanji name, Yuki was telling me how a foreign friend of hers was given kanji which meant 'crazy/wild bird'. Turned out it was the same woman.