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Next time you sit down to a nice meal that
1. your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/important-person-that-you-don't-really-want-to-make-angry prepared that looks like... urrr... uhhh.... ????... What does it look like?
2. isn't exactly what you ordered [ex. "I wanted low fat red wine vinaigrette dressing! NOT ITALIAN!!!"]
3. comes from a school cafeteria line
4. just isn't exactly what you'd ideally be eating...
just think of me and my fellow foreign English teachers eating Oishiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!! (oh-so-delicious!!!!!!) public school lunch in Japan. Today's lunch was one that almost brought a tear to my eye (literally). It included the following:
1. A big bowl of rice with smashed pickled plums (umeboshi) mixed in so that the rice ended up being purple and mouth-puckeringly sour
2. A combination "salad" ("Salad" is used only in the most liberal sense as it contained only a mix of boiled soggy and cold spinach, tuna, and bean sprouts)
3. Two whole fish deep fried - about 6 inches long including head, tail, flippers, eyes... the works. The kids were poppin' em down like potato chips... CRUNCH CRUNCH!
4. Tofu and Japanese radish soup with lots of nice unrecognizables mixed in. At some point in my time in Japan, I realized that sometimes it's better not to know what I'm eating... I just stuff it into my mouth. Cringe. Swallow. Even if it's raw, cooked, live, dead, smelly, seaweedy, crunchy or whatever... just pretend like it's chicken fajitas with salsa and guacamole. Chicken fajitas with salsa and guacamole. Chicken fajitas with salsa and guacamole... Mind over matter...
So, my friends, you better savor... smack your lips... lick your fingers... and appreciate that delicious and recognizable food you're eatin'...
and I'll keep reciting, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger..... "
: ) Jennifer
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