The Expedition

They were all assembled at the bottom of Mount Everest: teams from numerous nations on a U.N. joint "Peace Cooperation Climb" of the great mountain.

Each team had been allocated a different task to prepare: the French were to do the cooking, the Germans the navigation,the Russians to deal with any bears encountered, the Americans to ensure security, the Irish to tell jokes, the British with their renowned diplomatic skills to eusure good communication and harmony between different nationalities, the Japanese on supplies etc.

Well, there was just one problem as the departure hour approachd: WHERE WERE THE JAPANESE? Everyone was surprised they were late, as they were normally so efficient. But the seconds ticked by and still no sign of them. Impossible to phone as the whole area was a black spot. They were a key link in the team as they were taking care of supplies, so what to do? Everyone was looking at the Expedition Leader, chosen by lots and in this case a Latvian. After thinking a bit he finally said: "Look, we can't wait for ever; perhaps they have had a sudden attack of mass food-poisoning or something. We need the supplies but we can get some helicoptered in and pick them up at the first stage in a couple of hours. OK?"

And so off they set. The conditions were perfect; all the different national teams were cooperating well. At one point an American slipped off his piton but was rescued by a Russian and everyone cheered; that was exactly the spirit the expedition was designed to foster.

After nearly two hours of steady climb (the lower reaches being fairly easy in comparison), they were nearing the first stage base camp where they would pick up some supplies already helicoptered in by the support team. Still no sign of the Japanese though.

At last, just as they were rounding the last curve before the base camp, a whole bunch of Japanese furiously waving U.N. flags leaped out from their hiding place behind a huge boulder shouting:

"Supplies, Supplies!"