A big difference between living in San Diego and Japan is that it’s full of Japanese people, and I mean not just packed in, but the population is ethnically something like 98.5% Japanese. Don’t get me wrong, I like Japanese people, but seeing how they are all from here and the vast majority have never left the country, try to find something that isn’t inherently Japanese and what you get is their interpretation of what they think it should be like.
For example: The food.
The Japanese primary focus is on visual appeal and presentation. Just think of all the craftsmanship that goes into making a Spicy-California-Rainbow-Dragon roll you ate last time you had “Sushi” (More on that later) . So when you order a bowl of udon noodles with tempura shrimp and a few sides you can be sure that it will come out looking exactly like the artfully crafted plastic models that many restaurants display in their front windows instead of some uninteresting menu.
Sometimes this works. Go into a McDonald’s and the burger they’ll serve you looks remarkably like the one on the menu board picture. Of course they haven’t figured out that one packet of ketchup isn’t enough for even a kid’s sized order of fries. Seriously, what do they expect me to with a single ketchup packet?
Oh, and I’m not ashamed to admit that just today I swung by the local Quickie Stop to grab a decent tasting lunch. I would never touch a sandwich out of the chill case at an AM/PM back home, but here everything is fresh and neatly presented. Even the 7-11 brand sushi ain’t bad.
The problem is that people don’t eat with my eyes, they eat with their mouths, and that’s a fact. So sometimes that food can be very bland.
I think even they know this.
A Japanese friend once asked me if I’d like some “Japanese butter?”
“Sure.”
She handed me a bowl of salt.
Goodnight Nobody,
Eric
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