Ramen and a Reverse Cultural Observation

The funniest thing just happened. I am meeting Claire later, but just wanted a quick lunch, so I took one of the cup-ramen that we have in our collective snack area (about 80 cents) to eat at my desk (yup, real healthy, I know).

One of the math teachers was walking by my desk to go talk to someone and almost jumped, as he exclaimed (in Japanese), “oh my gosh, you’re eating the Japanese food!?!” He’s like, “can you eat it?”, and I told him it was no problem. Then two more teachers walk over to see what is going on (I am sitting there with chopsticks in hand) and he tells them I am eating ramen. They all seem impressed and start talking about how amazing it is I am eating the Japanese ramen. Then another guy asks me, “is it good?” while another says they need to find an English teacher to translate (even though I am answering back in Japanese, so I tell them it is ok and I understand). They all sort of laugh and give me a proverbial well-done, while two teachers near me tell each other how awesome it is (like I can’t hear them).
So funny! Almost 8 months in, a lot of Japanese under my belt (ok, at least compared to when I came with none) and its good ole college ramen that impresses people.

Sidenote:
Just got an email confirming that the "history of Tempura in Japan was that it was brought there by Portugese traders. So in a way, it's sort of like okonomiyaki in that its foreign (well sort of)." Thanks for that.

Oh, and just got THREE more "sugoi's" about the fact that I am eating the ramen. Seriously... this is so funny! I am getting a kick out of it. The history teacher even stopped to tell me what to do with the extra water, and told me to "have fun".