Getting A Seat At A Udon Restaurant in Japan - A Fictional Problem Solving Activity
The catch- it is open only for an hour. The activity brought all the teens together to figure a way to write about their eating experience at this place.
Situation
Nestled in a cozy corner, Kurashiki, Japan, is a Udon restaurant in a noodles factory, . It is open only for an hour. The owner works at the factory and needs to report to work in the morning. His passion to make noodles extended itself to meeting people and serving hot breakfast. No matter how much he convinced his boss to allow him to run a restaurant in the premises, the boss wouldn’t budge. But eventually the boss came around and said that the man could keep it open for an hour in the morning, on the condition that he would report to work on time.
Word spread. People started to line up regularly. People stand in a queue starting from 6am to get breakfast. At 7am it shuts as the fresh stock made everyday can feed only so much people!
Assignment for the members of the Young Writers’ Club.
We, the members of the Young Writers’ Club are in this city. We are staying there for just two days. We want to eat here after having heard so much about the udon noodles made here.
We arrive and find 45 people already waiting in line.
Some people are locals who eat there often, some are tourists like us, and a few seem to be resellers who buy and post it online for profit.
We can’t bribe or pay extra — the shop owner values fairness and integrity. (A board in English states this in bold letters.)
We can of course walk away...But..
Catch in the story:
We have a prestigious assignment from a renowned publication to write about this place. Everyone of us have to document our experience of eating in this place. We simply have to find a way to get a seat inside. What can we do?
Brainstorming The Plan of Action Together
First and foremost, join the queue of 45 people and then think of what to do next.
How about interviewing someone? Two options- talk to the locals who could be regulars here to get snippets of their dining experience. Language could be a barrier here. Also, this might be their sustenance food and hence we may get very little in terms of experience of eating special dishes made. Second possibility is to talk to the resellers who are making money. The only issue there is that they would try to sell.
Buying it from the resellers? - they are likely to be more expensive. Also they may be selling plain noodles that could be used as a base for a complete dish. It would not be of any use for us.
Talking to a tourist who has already dined there? This person might be keen on sharing. That is of course if this is not their first time. Might worth the try, if we get lucky.
How about persuading local people to allow us to go ahead? We could say we want to experience something unique to Japan and want to write about the heritage. Since we are around only for a short time, this might be our only chance.
We could broker a deal. Casual conversations followed by a deal to write a detailed coverage of the person for the prestigious publication?
We don’t know if we will get permission to go forward with it.
What if they don’t know this publication?
Isn’t this a bribe?
Flattery and get a seat at the table with a Japanese family?
Kind of uncomfortable but might work if done skillfully.
Bank on someone’s impatience, someone might just drop out.
Start early the next day, if nothing else works.
What happens next?
That, dear reader is left to your active imagination! :)
Every week at the Young Writers’ Club (a writing club for teen writers), we catch up with interesting news, discuss, analyze and have invigorating discussions. This article is part of the weekly newsletter that is sent to the members of the club.
If you enjoyed reading this article and would love to read more about the work that these amazing teens do, please subscribe to our magazine for free.
Once in 3 months, a special edition showcasing some of their exceptional writing is released.
Next edition coming soon…
Subscribe for free and don’t miss reading a fine piece of writing!
Musings from the Young Writers’ Club is a Talking Circles’ Publication