Enjoy the Taste of Rice.

I am teaching at ELS Language Centers in Westminster, CO. I love this job for the main reason of being around young, energetic International students. They make me laugh day after day.

I particularly love my Japanese students. Not just because I lived there and love that culture/country, but because they and I just seem to click. Most days they wander into the office and hang out after school for a bit.

We usually end-up on the topic of food. I love food, and I love bits and pieces of Japanese food. They can really hit it (potstickers) and they can really miss the mark (natto). And of course it always comes back to their staple of rice. I don't really think of rice. It's a bland filler. period. I don't understand how people "love" rice. In my mind there is no taste of rice. It's rice. One of my students in particular thinks I am crazy. How can I not love rice?! I tell her there is no taste! She tells me flatly, "Rice tastes like rice. Enjoy the taste of rice." Japanese can be the most simplistic people sometimes.