Whatcha do with all them donuts that you bake?
At present there are two sixteen-year-old Japanese exchange students in my living room playing Wii Bowling with Lana. I have promised to take them shopping tomorrow. It is their deepest desire to go to Forever 21. Apparently Forever 21 is a big deal in Japan. I don't think I have ever made anyone this ecstatically happy with just the promise of a ride to the mall.
I'm thinking that they are going to have to buy a new suitcase while they are at the mall because there is no room in their bags for any new stuff.
I find it very interesting to watch the exchange students' reactions to all things American. (I can still remember the first few weeks I spent in Japan, and how fascinating I found EVERYTHING.) Currently, they are thrilled by Pop-Tarts, chewy chocolate chip cookies, Tim Horton's Donuts**, and Wii Bowling (I thought Wii was pretty common in Japan, but I don't know if Wii Bowling has taken off.)
Speaking of doughnuts, I have a funny story to share. My mother returned from an International conference of "Women in the Clergy" a few days ago. The conference was held in Atlanta, but their were women there from all over the world. Inadvertently, my mother introduced a group of Cameroonian*** nuns to the delicacy that is commonly known as the "glazed doughnut". My mother had to actually drag them out of the back of the Baptist church that was serving the doughnuts with a promise that they would find more doughnuts the next day. After that, it was a week long quest for glazed donuts on the part of those nuns. It was "Have you TASTED THIS?" and "Do you KNOW ABOUT THESE?" all week long as those nuns took it upon themselves to spread the gospel according to Krispy Kreme.
I think that's just absolutely hysterical.
LM
*The Spin Doctors, Hungry Hamed
** Technically Canadian and not American, but who's quibbling?
*** I'm not sure if Cameroonian is the right terminology. Women from Cameroon is what I'm getting at.
posted by LawMommy at 9:25 PM
7 Comments:
I love Japanese reactions to everything American. I live on a military base outside of Tokyo and I love the things that Japanese people get excited about. I meet my Japanese friends at the food court on base for Taco Bell and they can't get enough. :) And my Japanese co-workers love American-style desserts; parties at work are a big hit because our cakes and pies are so different than the ones in Japan. Plus when we have festivals and parties for the base and people bring Japanese guests they clean out the marketing booth of free t-shirts and giveaway prizes. :) (Oh, and Wii is very popular here, but they have very different games.)
Oy, tim hortons? Really. Having the (not really canadian husband) Irish In-laws who live in Canada, Krisy Kreme and dunkin Rock the house over timmy and day!!!
but man, being off sugar for 2 weeks, I would kill for either.
BTW, Forever 21 is huge for any teenie booper from wherever, europe/asia/us. something about rayon and spandex!!
Bwaahahaa. I loved this post. I, too, lived in Japan for a couple of years. (Perhaps the same base that Tara is now speaking of)I just love Japanese people. They were consumed with trying to buy my worn out jeans off of me when I was there. I was just in Japan last month and I am still in awe of some things there!
Plus the nun story was too funny! I read almost the whole post to my DH, just in separate parts, like "wait, you gotta' hear this!" then "oh, you have to hear this, too"! Thanks for the laugh.
Oh, Timmy Ho's! Don't have those here in Indiana.
Ok, so I MUST share this story.
I did a summer school program in college and my roommate was this 25ish year old Japanese girl who had never been to the US. She was terrified (we were in a big city) that she was going to get murdered or something. Anyway, when I moved out at the end of the session, my mom was trying to clean out the fridge and she accidentally threw some moldy-looking leftovers out ... they were the Japanese girl's. I didn't know any of this until I received an email telling me that I had ruined her opinion of all Americans and that she would never be back to the US.
Umm ... ok? Bizarre.
Ha, the nun story is great. Doughnuts are next to godliness, I guess.
I had a Japanese roommate in college who LOVED (have I told you this before?)Cheese Wiz on potato chips. She thought that was the epitome of American junk food cuisine. We tried to explain to her that Americans don't generall eat those two things in combination with each other, but she didn't believe us. Or didn't care. And when her parents came to get her at the end of the semester? I swear they bought out the mall. They even got her a wedding dress despite the fact she didn't have a boyfriend.
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