“Could we wrap this up and have another sandwich to go?” said English teacher Lyle while he and the students sat inside what might be the most famous restaurant in Montreal: Schwartz’s. His students were amused and puzzled with the expression “wrap this up” and “to go”.
However, Lyle was actually the one who was the most amused and puzzled because he learned that apparently, in Japan, you cannot have your meal to go. Excited about learning this new fact, he returned to CLC from this student activity, and told French teacher Yohann about what he had just learned from the students.
“It’s the same in France!” exclaimed Yohann.
Now I wonder… is the concept of having your meal to go mostly a North American thing?
tina
CLC Canada | Blog 
When I was in Japan, I saw a lot of places had a sign saying “Take out OK”, but I know some didn’t allow it. I guess it might be particular to North America 🙂
Really! That’s really interesting that some of them specify the option to take out. Thank you for your comment!
I have a similar story! My two kids and I were in Paris at Angelina’s – best hot chocolate in the world, super fancy. I asked if one serving of hot chocolate would be appropriate for one child, or was it big enough that they should share it. The waiter said that we should get one for each of them. When it arrived, it was a pitcher of hot chocolate for each child – about three cups, which is way more than they could possibly drink. I asked if we could have the rest “to go,” which brought a stereotypical Parisian waiter scoff. “No, you cannot have it ‘to go’.” We were not going to leave all that yummy hot chocolate behind, though! We emptied our travel water bottles and filled them with the rest of the hot chocolate. That way, we could enjoy our hot chocolate for the rest of the day. (When I told AJ this story, he said, “That’s stereotypical American resourcefulness!”)
Thank you Michelle for sharing your story! On the bright side, you were able to avoid the chemicals that would seep into the hot chocolate when putting it in a plastic or styrofoam container to go!