Spencer Seeberger:

It took all of my courage to ask Manola out on a date. I was surprised she agreed. Being the gentleman, I allowed her to pick her favorite restaurant to go to. When I was told we were going for sushi, I said yes despite my stomachs tossing and churning. I had never had sushi before, but I guess I have to face my fears sooner or later.

The date started off a lot more smoothly than I thought it would. We were soon off in Manola’s white horse drawn carriage called ‘Volkswagen’. After narrowly missing death and getting the stink eye from the guy in the car next to us, we safely made it to the Tacoma mall. We parked and made our way into Macy’s. On our way through the store, I couldn’t help but get distracted by the mens clothing department. Manola had to hold me back from searching through the nearly endless clothes.

After our journey through the urban jungle we arrived at the sushi restaurant. My stomach immediately began to churn at the sight of the dead, raw fish that lay before my eyes. We took our seats at the counter. It was weird; they had two revolving conveyor belts with food and drinks on it. You got to grab whatever you liked off of the belt.

We started off the date with a volcano roll. I eyed Manola suspiciously, wondering if she was going to use the chopsticks or not. I can’t use chopsticks, so I hoped she couldn’t also. Luckily, she didn’t know how to use them either. It was like a match made in heaven. I was amazed at how the sushi tasted. I didn’t expect sushi to be good. After all, it was raw seafood. I just had to remind myself to not think about what I was eating.

Afterwards, we tried shrimp and squid. This mysterious Japanese drink was coming by on the conveyor belt and we decided to try it as well. I gracefully opened the drink with my manly strength. It was this carbonated, flavored water. It wasn’t too bad. We then tried this dragon roll. Now, that didn’t make either of our stomachs feel too good. It didn’t help looking at the ingredients and seeing the words “eel sauce” and seeing what looked to be fish eggs of some sort in the roll.

The date was drawing to a close and we started to pay. After we both struggled to pay with a debit card, we were once again on our way back to Bellarmine. After narrowly missing a large truck that was trying to corral us and almost caused us to miss our exit, we made it back to Bellarmine. I said goodbye to my lovely date, and had a good feeling knowing that I tried sushi and that I didn’t die going to or from the sushi restaurant. Hopefully, Manola will be up for a round 2. I give the date 9 rolls out of 10.

Manola Secaira:

Hadn’t tried sushi? Hadn’t tried sushi? When Spencer told me about this, my heart stopped for a few brief moments and I contemplated not going out with him at all. It was a sinful horror never to have eaten sushi. I can’t even imagine where the world would be without it.

Because of my compassionate heart, I took pity on him and formulated the perfect date place. A sushi restaurant! But which one? It would have to be both elegant and romantic, delicious but adolescently affordable.

So,I brought him to one of the most elegant and refined places I could think of: the Tacoma Mall.

We had to make our way through Macy’s, which was tough for my slightly metrosexual date. Spencer’s attention was slowly being dragged away from sushi, which he was a little nervous about, to ties. But I couldn’t let it happen. I had to fulfill my mission, so I grabbed his arm and trudged onwards.

We finally reach Sushi Express and I shoved him into a seat, perhaps a little overly excited. Sushi rolls meandered by on a conveyer belt and the lighting was dim; the makers of the sushi were actually Asian so I knew this was going to be legit. It was to be the perfect, romantic, date for me, and possibly life altering for him.

We picked a Volcano roll off the belt and took of its cover, revealing a slight smell of seaweed and something raw. Beautiful, isn’t it? He bit in and I could see the instant change that occurred deep in the depths of his soul as he swallowed. I was so happy that I could be there with him in such a life changing moment.

He didn’t like the roll with fish eggs sprinkled on it that we tried later but it was alright, as I knew that I could continue my life knowing I’d done him such an influential flavor.

Afterwards, as we were arriving back at school, he told me that he’d had a good time and I mentally highfived myself. I did have a few complications while I was parking, though, and regrettably in the presence of Mr.Waters (who still brings it up with me when I’m in the lunch line to this day).