Food & Cultural Appreciation, Tuesday Third Period

[carbsliftthespirit]

"All right, folks," Raiden said to his students, "today we're headed to Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area in the world--over forty-one million residents!--so we won't get to explore all of it, but we'll get a little taste that might just leave you hungry for more.

"You may already be familiar with one form of Japanese food from the Sushi Station in town, but there's a lot more out there, and you may not know that 'sushi' refers to the rice, not raw fish.

"Now, Japan is an archipelago, which means it's an island country. Until very recently, this kept it pretty isolated from most other cultures and outside influences on its food--except for China, its nearest neighbor--although these days that's changed and you'll see foreign influences in things like the wild proliferation of different flavors of KitKat." To name just one. "Rice is a staple, as well as the products of the sea, like fish and seaweed, and spices are used sparingly, because they were hard to get here for a very long time, resulting in a different flavor profile from what you may be used to.

"Today we're going to go on a food tour before we stop by a 7-Eleven, where you can try some other classic Japanese foods (or one of those sandwiches with whipped cream and strawberries) and pick up some snacks."

Ethics, Tuesday, November 19, 2024

[sith_happened]

When the class arrived, they'd find their teachers in the front of the classroom again, one looking slightly more pleased with himself than the other.

He was also chewing.

"We did have a class planned on the ethics of hospitality and social customs around food, but it turns out one of us had different ideas."

Which one of them could she mean?

It was truly a mystery for the ages. "I missed breakfast," Anakin protested.

"That's what ration bars are for," Ahsoka pointed out, completely reasonably. "Not the demonstration cookie." The last one at that.

"But cookies are tastier than ration bars," Anakin replied with an unrepentant shrug. "We can adjust the class."

Ahsoka was giving him such a judgemental look right now. "Yes. We can. How do you handle betrayal ethically?"

"It was a cookie," Anakin said, "Betrayal feels like a strong word for this."

"The last cookie." Ahsoka had the moral high ground.

How dare you make him experience a consequence for his choices, Ahsoka. "Very well," Anakin said. "Let's discuss how we don't overreact to other people's actions."

Sure, Anakin.

"Well, some of us have firsthand knowledge there."

Anakin.

Anakin had never overreacted to anything-- yeah, even the narrative couldn't pretend that was true.

"So let's discuss how we react to small disappointments," Anakin said. "Confront the person? Ignore it? Start a passive-aggressive internal list of all the ways this person has wronged you and eventually explode about it?"

Anakin.

World Mythology, Tuesday, 2nd Period.

[atreideslioness]

The moment the students were seated, Ghanima launched into her lecture.

"Given that we're in mid- fall," she began, "We'll start with the myths of a land known for its winter. Today, we journey to Northern Europe, to take on Norse mythology."

( Ragnarok. It's the End of the World As We Know It. )

"According to Völuspá, it will be an axe age, a sword age, shields are cleft asunder, a storm age, a wolf age, before which the world plunges headlong'," she recited, eyes closed as she then repeated the phrase in Norse. "Yggdrasil, the World Tree, will groan and shudder, shaking from root to limb, and nothing will then be unafraid on earth or in the heavens or in Hel. " Ghani smiled softly, hopping up to sit on her desk. "Cheery, isn't it? Now, let's talk about the end of the world."