Ramen Connoisseur

Arowana

I learned something new tonight from my nephew, Connor. It is not unusual for me to learn something new from him. He teaches me all kinds of things about bugs and wildlife that I never knew. One of the funniest things he taught me was in a fish store a few years ago. He pointed to a fish and loudly exclaimed, "That's an arawana fish. They carry their eggs in their mouths." I did not hear him say arawana, I actually heard the word marijuana and became very embarrassed that this child of about 8 years old was yelling the word in the middle of a fish store. I tried repeatedly to correct him, but he got louder and louder, insisting on the name of the fish. I think when I became embarrassed, my ears blushed and filled with blood, because I just kept hearing MARIJUANA! MARIJUANA! MARIJUANA! Finally, a salesperson came over and put me out of my misery, when he said, "He's right, that is an a-row-ana fish." Finally, I heard the correct pronunciation - I've never been so embarrassed and proud at the same time.

A few months ago, Connor asked if we could get some ramen, because a cartoon character he likes eats only ramen. It's cheap, so I bought him one in every flavor. He tried each and every one of them, finally determining that there is only one flavor worth eating - chicken vegetable. Tonight I asked Con if he would mind if I ate some of his ramen. His response seemed odd to me - he said, "Which one?" Knowing that we have only one kind in the house, I replied, "Chicken vegetable, goofus. What's the problem? You still have three left, and I'll buy some more for you when I go to the store." He said, "Yeah, but I only have one Maruchan left." He then schooled me on ramen. Apparently, there is a difference between ramen made by Nissin and ramen made by Maruchan - and according to Connor, Maruchan is the king of ramen. Now I know.