Knowing it all
So we are already a couple of weeks into fourth quarter, and I’m already missing third quarter. Not necessarily because I want the early morning track practices or piles of homework back, but more so I want Naho!
Naho Maeda is this year’s Japanese exchange student, and during third quarter I had the pleasure of living with her. And although I could list plenty of positive features about her, what I wanted to point out in this blog entry was particularly the fact that you don’t have to move to another country to learn about someone else’s culture!
About the first two days or so after Naho moved in with me, a little after winter break, I had decided to make nice warm chocolate chip cookies. But what’s better than chocolate chip cookies? The dough of course!
As I turned the oven on to preheat, I got myself out a small bowl to put a scoop of cookie dough in (to save for later), and then I called into the living room to ask Naho if she wanted some as well … and she seemed totally shocked.
She laughed at me and asked me if I was kidding, and when I had convinced her that I was totally serious, she told me it sounded so gross and there was no way she was going to eat it (“It’s dough Lizzy!”).
Apparently Naho had never even heard of people eating cookie dough! How absurd! So I explained to her that most people I know have tried cookie dough, love cookie-dough ice cream, and even buy those little cookie-dough bites at the movie theaters.
Although she remained a little hesitant, I managed to get her to try some, and not-so-shockingly she loved it!
One time Naho and I were hanging out in her room when she asked me if I wanted some of her chips her mom had just sent her from Japan. She told me that they were really spicy and that she couldn’t eat them.
Although I couldn’t understand the label, the bag was black and had a ball of fire with a “smiley face” in the fire figure. Being brave (and assuming they could be no worse than flaming hot Cheetos) I tried one. And they were very similar to flaming hot cheetos … at first.
Then my mouth felt like it was on fire, and I rushed downstairs to get water! I didn’t know they made potato chips so spicy! I only ate one, and convinced my brother to eat one too before we had to put the bag away.
After that incident Naho shared many of her interesting food stories with me. For example, who knew that they sold Kit-Kats in glass jars in Japan? And Naho told me they ate live fish. Actually all she told me at first was that “these fish are just swimming, swimming, swimming, then they pick one, and you eat it!,” which seemed very gross at first, but she later explained to me that the fish were very small and were only served at fancy restaurants (and she also added some details about how you could feel the fish squirming in your mouth, too).
Another time, not related to food for once, Naho and I decided to go on go-karts! What Naho failed to tell me was the fact that she had only been on one once when she was really young and her dad was driving! So since I’d had the experience of driving go-karts at various fairs and carnivals since I can remember, I didn’t think anything of it.
And actually, everything went very smoothly: The cars didn’t go all that fast, and there weren’t any other people there, and the track was very wide. It was just the ending, when the guy had us pull in to stop. I slowed down my car and then put on the brake … and next thing I know Naho comes speeding in and hits me, kablam!
Later I figured out that not only had Naho never really driven a go-kart, but on top of that she had never learned how to ride a bike! (And when she finally arranged for proper bike lessons she was continually coming home with bruised knees from all the harsh falls!)
There were also stories about her gigantic school and how they had archery programs available, and the different types of wild animals that come into the city (on occasion).
One thing is for sure: I definitely miss all the new experiences — everything from experiencing Naho’s first real go-kart extravaganza to learning about how it feels to have a live fish in your mouth.
— Lizzy Warner