A Midwestern Craving Assuaged

On my walk back from the barbershop yesterday, I stopped in a little bakery. When my girlfriend was here, she really enjoyed the freshly made bread that some Japanese like to make toast from for breakfast. So I thought to get some more bread. The baker was busy in the window preparing some dough for the oven. I asked if he had any bread. He was happy to see me and went into a detailed explanation about Japanese's preferences for bread versus Europeans'. That's about all I understood.

I got the impression that he was discouraging me from buying bread at that time of day or from what was still available. So I bought two rolls: one filled with cheese and the other a whole wheat one. Being almost 8 o'clock, I was hungry so I ate the cheese roll as I continued walking home. Mmmmm! It was so delicious! "Why does this cheese taste so good?" I asked myself? I realized my answer: either it had been too long since I have eaten cheese or it was unusually good cheese. Growing up in Illinois, cheese and other dairy products were part of my everyday diet. Here in Japan, I still have milk and yoghurt, but not much cheese. It is rather expensive. 

As much as I think I am maintaining my Americanness and feeling detached from the Japanese around me, it is moments like this that surprise me to realize that my diet and probably other things are changing during this experience. So when I return to the USA, please go easy on me! I'll have some readjusting to do. Once again.