Ramen in America

Bon appétit! - photo

America, freshman year of college, 2003. This was my first experience with ramen. You know, the cheap brick of noodles you can buy in economy packs. I remember the high-sodium seasoning packets, stepping on dropped and forgotten noodle bits, and dorm room arguments about whether ramen was meant to be a soup or a pasta dish. I even remember ramen bargains dropping somewhere around 15 cents an individual package! My understanding of ramen has come a long way since then.

Ramen is basically a Japanese noodle dish appropriated from Chinese hand-pulled noodles (hence its katakana/loan word writing (ラーメン). Its original name, "shina soba", was actually an ethnic slur. That's a good change, good change. Ramen as we know it today was first produced by Nissin Food Products who still have the majority of the market at 40 percent. Ramen was especially popularized in Japan after WWII with the influx of cheap flour from the US and the subsequent return of Japanese soldiers from East Asia countries with a taste for the noodles.  

Normal ramen in Japan. Whaddya think, 15 bucks or so? 110? photo

In Japanese ramen restaurants it isn’t uncommon for a quality bowl of the noodles/soup to run somewhere between 10 and 20 dollars. An average bowl includes bean sprouts, green onions and a few slices of pork. The list of uncommon ingredients is infinite, spanning from hard-boiled egg halves to fish cakes to cheese and curry. The most expensive bowl of ramen tops at about $110 a bowl in Tokyo at Fujimaki Gekijo which consists of 20 different ingredients (the actual noodles being free).

Of course, Japan has the square blocks like Maruchan and Top Ramen as well as cheaper $3-a-bowl restaurants. But you can see how some things have been appropriated and/or lost in translation. Peering back stateside, there is actually a big community of people who invent new recipes with ramen. Imagine: the ramen burger, ramen spaghetti, ramen pizza, ramen hotdogs, etc. Yeah, that definitely sounds like the good ol’ US of A. I'm not sure I'd hop on this bandwagon though, considering that most packets of ramen come close to (or exceed) the recommended dietary allowance of sodium in a day. Yikes.

If you're still interested in the starchy dish, peruse this endless blog of "official" ramen news, miscellany and DIY recipes.

The Japanese: Cute and Physically Fit

Here are some super-genki pre-schoolers. photo

This time of year happens to be the time for Sports Festivals at most (if not, all) schools in Japan. (It really irks me that an outdoor sporting event like the Japanese Sports Festival would happen to coincide with the beginning of the rainy season. But that's another topic.) So, when I say "all schools", I mean all schools from high school on down to nursery schools. Everyone spends about a month practicing strange events. (If you're a little lost now, please refer to my Undokai Article—if only for the pictures...)

Every Friday I travel to one of my farther elementary schools to teach English.There is a nursery school right across the street. From where I sit in the teacher's office, I can hear when all the little nursery kids are outside playing. Now, you may or may not know that I love kids, especially the little ones. I gush over the new first graders that when given a chance to ask me any question can't seem to form a complete sentence or ask a real question. It goes something like this:

Teacher - Okay kids, now you can ask Mr. Dan anything you want. What food does he like? What's his favorite color? Let's find out!
Me - Ummm, you! (pointing to one of the serious-yet-seriously-interested face kids).
1st Grader - What's your favorite bug?
Me - Hmm, I like butterflies and ants! Okay, next...you!
Next 1st Grader - (stands up, pushes his chair in) I go to English class on Wednesdays.
Me - Oh really?
Teacher - That's not a question. Nice try. Remember, ask Dan-sensei a question.
Me - Ok, you, in the back!
Another 1st Grader - This morning, I woke up and my dog was barking at the. (sits down with blank expression)
Teacher - That doesn't make any sense. We can understand what you are trying to say. Okay, hmm... Kotaro, ask Dan a question.
Kotaro - Do you like bugs?

I guess my problem here is with the teacher. Either that or the confines of my job. I just wanna lay down on the floor and help these kids build a block castle while they tell me about their barking dogs.

This kind of conveys my feelings.

But this scene is very low on the adorable scale when compared to nursery school kids participating in Sports Day. They have their little reversible red or white hats on. They march like dandy little soldiers with their arms swinging higher than their heads. There's always a few kids that are either just too young or they forget everyone is watching them so they tend to drift off into la-la land and/or pick their nose. This is especially funny when the gun sounds for a race and one kid is left standing at the starting line until the teacher scrambles out on the field and gives him or her a push in the right direction. And that's not to mention when the kids finally does start running it becomes obvious he hasn't exactly fine-tuned his motor skills yet and is still about 5 years off from understanding the concept of "dork". So, his strides are way too high and wasteful while his small arms (ending in plump fists) pump in strange directions.

I could just squeeze that kids cheeks till they split open. Out of love, of course.

So, every Friday, sitting in the teacher's room, I can here those little romper-stompers lining up for the pre-Sports Day stretch. Now, it may be important to know that Japanese schools seem to be underfunded, and nursery schools seem to be in an even worse position financially. You can tell this by the Dumbo-like character statues planted in the playground right next to jungle-gym equipment that make John Travolta (circa Saturday Night Fever) seem like someone from I-Robot. This school also has a fantastic metal slide from the second floor balcony all the way to a sandbox in the playground. (I haven't seen this used, though, so I'm guessing it was outlawed along with lawn darts and the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab which included uranium ore).

So, of course, their warm-up/stretching song is this little gem called "Hoto Poppo" maybe from the 1950s or 60s. Please, indulge in this throwback, and imagine it blaring at unsafe sound levels out of scratchy speakers.

Pigeon Coo Coo

(roughly translated)

Coo, Coo Coo
Pigeon coo, coo
If you like beans
Come down
Let’s eat altogether

Coo, Coo Coo
Pigeon coo, coo
If the beans are delicious
Eat one and fly away

You might not have noticed, but everyone is laughing because these brave actors are mimicking little preschool kids. Now imagine that song with these kids:

Now what's funny about warm ups like this is that it's not just cute little grade-schoolers and toddlers doing these stretches. In fact, they're quite common in the Japanese workplace. Here, a bunch of construction/factory workers (?) warm up with their work belts on.

And this next clip is of the business man variety with the most popular "Radio Calisthenics" which used to be broadcast every morning (it might still be).

 Go Go Japan! Stay Genki! Let's healthy body! This concludes the Japanese lesson. Bow. Thank you.

Traditional American Clothing, or, Lack There Of

Jeans: very representative of the US but not very traditional

In one of the JET language course books there is a dialogue on the International Festival (国際フェア). Kim Sonho—a favorite language workbook character and close friend to Nancy Nagai—provides some photos from last year’s festival. Notice how warm and comfortable it feels when you study a language with a full cast of characters? So, this dude Sonho describes how all the English teachers in the area gather for the International Festival. They introduce their country, cook traditional food, put on folk costumes and take pictures with the area residents. At this point, I begin thinking, “いいな!” An interesting foreign cultural event like that would be impossible on my small island; me being the only native English teacher, and as for foreign cultures this place is relatively homogeneous.

I stare at Sonho’s black and white photographs of various ethnic costumes and feel a revitalization of my anthropological background. There’s a kimono, a Korean chima chogori, what looks like a Dutch dress, something possibly Chinese and another unidentifiable dress. (Don’t mistake my ignorance for disinterest, on the contrary…)

Hailing from the U.S. of A.—my mottled ancestry tracing back to five European countries—I wonder what I would wear to such an event. When I try to think of traditional American clothing, the only thing that comes to mind is jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball hat. Other than that, I feel like I wouldn’t be representing America as a collective whole. American jeans have only become popular in the last 60 years…and mostly every country in the world knows and wears jeans. So can jeans be considered traditionally American? Probably not. Moreover, they are plain, not festive, and don’t represent anything but current casual or working styles in America.

A lot of American’s wear basketball shoes, too, but does that represent America? The same goes for Ugg’s, Northface, Gap, Aeropostale and anything from Walmart or anything NASCAR. I bet a lot of Americans sport the Snuggie (blanket/shirt infomercial extraordinaire) in the safety of their own homes as well. But I’m not sure any of those represent “America”.

Another problem, which I’m sure you’ve picked up on, is that none of these popular clothing items sound “traditional”. Granted, America is a snot-nosed toddler compared to the historical giants of the world. China has written documents tracing back at least three thousand years; that just blows us out of the water. Although the U.S. has been scrapping with our global parents, relatives and neighbors for 400 years we still haven’t pieced together any semblance of “traditional clothing”. Oh, we have old clothes. What we don’t have is a nation proud of those moth-eaten relics.

Look at this chump...he was dead serious.

America has a lot of historical clothing. Civil War fatigues are honorable to certain groups, but most Americans share my current mind frame: “Who would follow such a specific section of American history so closely? Don’t they have a life?” (The word otaku comes to mind.) Besides, I heard the dirtier and oilier the Civil War fatigues get, the more realistic they seem. I don’t want any part of that. Have you seen the Family Guy episode To Love and Die in Dixie where small-town southerners participate in a Civil War reenactment? It wouldn’t be too much of a leap to say Family Guy represents a good portion of America, especially when they make it tradition to make fun of our past.

So, old war clothes are out of the question. We also have some European vestiges like knickerbockers, Puritan attire and such, but they’re not “American”; they only temporarily represented our fashion sense. Hmm…America was once ruled by tribes of Native Americans and their traditional clothing is beautiful! But we can’t use moccasins and beaded deerskins to represent America, especially considering the shameful things we did to these early inhabitants. So, where does this leave us?

As a nation, the U.S. tends to compartmentalize each fashion to its respective era. Anything old is out of style and thus, embarrassing to wear. (Granted, fashion designers love to recycle.) When the 1960s ended, we threw away our Austin Powers clothes. When the 70s ended, we threw out our Saturday Night Fever get-ups. When the 80s ended, we stopped wearing neon fitness wear, Thriller jackets and stopped emulating Madonna. When the 90s ended, we realized The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Zack Morris didn’t represent us anymore. If we conjure up an MC Hammer costume in this day and age, it’s pretty obvious we’re attending either a Halloween party or an 80’s party.

Chief Little Crow, very festive, but not very representative of America

I wore a hakama to my wedding celebration dinner in Japan and (although I don’t exactly have an authoritative voice on the goings-on in Japan) it seemed quite normal—even impressive for a foreigner. Granted, I’m sure some younger Japanese may dread wearing zori to the local festival. I’m sure some think wearing a kimono to a wedding is boring or out-dated. But could you imagine a normal American getting married looking like a pilgrim or a Civil War general? Could you imagine a large section of Japan cynically ridiculing people that master the craft of tying a kimono or those that perfect the application of geisha makeup?

A surprising amount of culture has been preserved and remains respectable in Japan. This pride in culture and ethnicity is prevalent in many other cultures as well. As for the U.S., we have a very young country—also a country that is very fast to drop any sort of burdensome cultural ties. Our pride lies within the here and now. The past is something only to be recalled for nostalgia, history lessons or funny parties. It is a presence that generally slows us down and, with each passing year, needs to be shed like a fox’s winter coat. I’m not ashamed that we don’t have a homogeneous culture like Japan. I’m not upset that we don’t have traditional American attire to wear to the International Festival. But, it leaves a little to be desired, doesn’t it?

A Huge Step Forward for Health - My Plate Unveiled

Michelle Obama has been spearheading the crusade against obesity which yesterday birthed a simpler and healthier update for the Food Pyramid. The new “My Plate” design is laid out like a sectioned plate so we can easily compare the suggested servings with our own dinner plates. And look at that chique low fat milk up in the top right corner. Simple, and great. What’s beneficial about this design is that even grade school kids can understand the inconsistencies between the My Plate portions and their own large meat and potato servings. 

A good point of reference here is that kids from age 2 to adults obesity rates have doubled since the 1970s. The number of states with adult obesity rates over 25% has risen from zilch in the early 90s to 32 states in 2008!

Remember the 2005 USDA food guide travesty? It was a bunch of thin, colored wedges with foods crowded at the bottom (a version without titles or any information had been popularized on everything from cereal boxes to posters). Climbing the pyramid stairs was a clip-art guy—a symbol for the importance of exercise—seemingly conquering the food pyramid. That’s right, America, no matter how much High Fructose Corn Syrup and deep fried Oreo garbage you eat exercise will give you perfect health.

Before - a little crowded, confusing, Clip-Art guy beats the Pyramid

After - All kids are confused and guy walks over the rainbow parachute

Why did this no-brainer design take so long to come to fruition? 

Up until recently, the USDA-approved Food Pyramid has been fundamentally based on the 1956 model. The 1950s model was intended to ensure people were eating enough. You can guess why this ideology has been outdated for more than 60 years. Even at the time of this make-sure-you-eat-enough model, roughly 33% of adults were overweight. The only problem in the ‘50s was that obesity hadn’t yet been recognized as a disease.

Fast forward to 1992 when the meat and dairy bigwigs started lobbying to keep their large suggested servings (lest they might lose a few dollars keeping America fat).

Fast forward again to January of this year when the newest dietary guidelines were released after a 2 year struggle against aforementioned lobbyists. Nice work, Depart of Health.

Since the release of My Plate on June 2^nd, the USDA has spent $2 million to design and promote the plate. I think the U.S. deserves a high-five. 

Did you know?*

Before vitamins and minerals were discovered Protein, Carbohydrates, Oils, and Mineral Matter comprised the first USDA food guide (the latter category of which consisted of ashes from charred meat and vegetables as well as salts).

1920’s food group updates included four cost-levels and shopping suggestions for the Depression.

From 1943 to 1956, one of the seven food groups was butter.

Vegetables were a recognized category only since the 1992 Food Pyramid.

*Source