English Class Today

Here's a quick anecdote for y'all. Today, my adult conversation class was focused entirely on me pre-teaching my lasagna recipe. In our discussion about what the ladies would need to bring, I heard them say to each other they would need to bring "tuppa". That was all in Japanese, and I wanted to check my understanding of what they were saying. I clarified, in English, that "tuppa" was something to store food in, as they would need to bring a container of some kind to transport their lasagna home in. Reiko confirmed that, yes, that is what "tuppa" meant. I began to laugh to myself. I asked, "When you write 'tuppa', do you use katakana?" The reply was, "yes, yes we do, actually". Katakana, so you know, is almost always reserved for non-Japanese words. Our names, for example, are written in katakana. So, it would totally make sense that "tuppa" is written in katakana. I then told them all about "Tupperware" and we all had a good giggle. I'm nearly positive that their word for "food storage container" is a direct descendant of the name brand, Tupperware. Personally, I thought it was quite amusing.

Oh, I also shared my leftover venison chili with them. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, but Tizuko loved it. I actually gave her what was left so she could take it home, in addition to giving her one of the chili mixes ("2 Alarm Chili") that my mom keeps me supplied with. I made sure she understood what would happen if she put in the packet of cayenne pepper. She was very excited, and somewhat stunned when I explained that the seasoning kit I gave her was for 2 lbs (about 1 kilo here) of meat. Japanese people rarely prepare, much less eat, such a large amount of meat. I'm curious to hear about what happens when she give chili-making a try.