Thursday, September 16, 2004

Speaking of which...

What is the deal with Japanese coffee? It's like they don't understand the concept here. They seem to be under the impression that coffee is SUPPOSED to be bitter! They have a coffee you can buy from a vending machine, advertised as EXTRA BITTER! I'm not making this up; I should take a picture of it the next time I see one.

Bitterness is what happens when coffee gets too oxidized (boiling it, burning the beans, leaving it out overnight, etc). It's not something to strive for.

They have a type of coffee here insultingly referred to as American Coffee. There's nothing American about it; it's just regular (bitter) Japanese coffee that's watered down. The idea is that American's can't handle coffee that's too strong.

Apparently, all those Japanese Tourists I saw in Seattle decided not to share their findings with the friends back home. It must be some colossal conspiracy. "Shh, shh, everyone! Listen! When we get back to Japan, let's pretend we don't know Americans are all addicted to espresso, and keep pretending that they can't handle strong coffee. It'll be funny!"

Anyway, not to get sidetracked again, but what is the deal with Japanese thinking that they're better than everyone at everything? Kaori picked out a bag of chips the other day that she described as "very hot". Actually, they were mildly hot, emphasis on mildly. I can only infer that the Japanese don't share our traditions of chili cook-offs with chili so spicy hot that it paralyzes your vocal cords (possibly so that you can't ask for seconds, thereby saving your life).

The's I feel completely at home here.

Sigh. Back to work again.


  1. From: "Very Hot" Kaori
    To: Phoenix
    "Japanese thinking that they're better than everyone at everything?"
    i don't think so. actually, the snack i described was spicy, but not as hot as chili. i just thought you didn't like the snack or meal which is hot since you always have strong likes and dislikes in food. that's why i repeated saying "this snack is hot." i think Japanese and things made in Japan are not always better than everyone and everything in the world. but, like you admired the construction of pet bottles, sometimes i think people and things in Japan are delicate.

  2. Perhaps the "American Coffee" is somewhat of a cross-cultural misunderstanding. It may be that a few of those Japanese people who went to Seattle discovered that, at most coffee shops in America, you can't get a plain old cup-o-joe. The closest thing they have is "Americano", which is nothing more than watered down espresso or, to someone who didn't fully understand the concept, watered down coffee.

    Just a thought. I still think it's funny.

  3. Speaking of the chips, I actually liked them a lot (and have since purchased, and consumed, another bag).

    I think most Japanese, who have not traveled abroad, do think that they are better than everyone at everything, in the same way that Americans who have not traveled abroad, think the same thing. This attitude is not wholly undeserved. The Japanese are good at a LOT of stuff (you mentioned the PET bottles as an example, and you're right. ALL PET bottles of all sizes have identical caps, which are superior to American bottle caps that can leak if not sealed ALL THE WAY (the Japanese ones are pretty much leak-proof); the size, by the way, is the same as a single serving of pasta). The same way, Americans are good at a lot of OTHER stuff. I'm referring to the arrogance that arises when people are good at many things and then assume that they must be good (or better, or best) at EVERYTHING.

    In the same way, a particularly bright student (I'm thinking of myself here *cough*), constantly hearing how good he is at every subject, would be aghast at finding out he was only average in his class (me in my final year at EWU, in the software design course). Such a thing is inconceivable ("You keep using that word..."), until it happens to you.

    This is why I think that so many Japanese (for example, Japanese Teachers of English, who are not native speakers (or sometimes not even fluent speakers, or sometimes not even conversational speakers)) are resistant to the idea that foreigners are better at some things.