When I first talked with high school students in Japan, I expected our conversations to focus on the differences between our countries. We did talk about school, after-school tutoring, college, and what a normal day looks like for an American student.
But one topic kept coming back: food.
One student wanted to know what American students actually eat for lunch. Another asked me whether Americans really eat hamburgers as often as they do in movies. I asked what they usually ate after school, and soon we were comparing ramen, sushi, school lunches, fast food, and our favorite snacks.
What surprised me was how quickly the conversation changed. We were no longer “American students” and “Japanese students” trying to explain our cultures to each other. We were just teenagers arguing about which foods were better and telling each other what we had to try.
Of course, our lives were different in many ways. Some Japanese students talked about staying at school for club activities or going to juku after class, while American students might spend that time on sports, volunteering, jobs, or activities outside school.
But underneath those differences were many of the same things: school stress, plans for the future, friends—and apparently, a serious interest in food.
That experience changed the way I think about cultural exchange. Understanding another culture does not always have to begin with history, politics, or a textbook. Sometimes the easiest way to cross a cultural distance is simply to ask:
“What’s your favorite food?”