Do you like Korean food?” the new girl asked me.

“Well, I haven’t had it. I just, remember seeing this kind of thing in a… TV show I like,” I said. I immediately knew this was the wrong answer.

“Oh, what TV show?” she asked.

“Lauren loves Japanese cartoons,” one of my grad school friend chime in good-naturedly. “She thinks she’s Asian or something.”

I insist I only like them a little, that I don’t think I’m Asian, etc. Conversation moves on.

Then, we decide to pick up some dessert from a nearby grocery store, that carries distinctly Asian specialty foods. I cook a lot of Japanese food at home, so I start picking up ingredients.

“What’s all that for,” asked the new girl.

“Oh… well, sometimes I like to cook international foods,” I said. That’s normal, right?

“Lauren loves Japanese food,” my friend adds, too-helpfully.