Last week, one of the managers at my company returned to Japan from a one year stint at one of our American offices. On the afternoon of his first day back, he announced that he was thirsty and was going to get something to drink. When he came back, a 1-liter bottle of Coca Cola was clutched in his hands. My officemates reacted with a mixture of amusement and subtle consternation over his beverage choice.

The next day, the manager once again left the office in the afternoon and returned with a bottle of the fizzy American devil water. Upon questioning, the manager admitted that he had come to like the stuff while he was living in the States and now drinks it regularly.

The bedlam that followed was insane. . . everyone in the room simultaneously launched into a tirade about how unhealthy cola is and how he should quit drinking it right away and drink only Japanese tea if he’s thirsty. It wasn’t just what they said, either, but how they said it: with a fervor so intense that one might think that he had just returned from Burma and announced that while he was there he developed a fondness for chasing the white dragon. Talk about hammering down the nail that sticks up!

I can only imagine the reaction I would receive if I were to come back from lunch one day with a meal set from McDonalds, complete with a greasy hamburger, Coke & fries! Hmm. . . actually, they’d probably just say, “yappari amerikajin da na” (”Naturally, you’re an American”).