Maia and I met Brian downtown today for our weekly lunch together, and we decided to try Tomukun, which is a new noodle bar that opened up just off campus. Brian had soba, I had ramen, and Maia had a bowl of udon, and everything was delicious! (Daikon, nori, shitake mushrooms, pork belly ... mmmmm.)
Maia decided that her udon noodles needed a little something extra, and so she asked our server over with a polite "Excuse me?" and asked "Could I have some soy sauce?" Our server seemed happy to oblige.
Here's the thing: she did this all on her own, and neither Brian nor I knows for sure how she knew to ask for soy sauce rather than salt (or something else). Maybe it was the fact that we were eating with chopsticks. Maybe it was the shape of her bowl or the ingredients that she saw in ours. Who knows? What's obvious, though, is that she has entire structures of relationships in her head about how the world is organized and what goes with what--it was so interesting to get a peek into that. We asked her if she would ask for soy sauce at Silvio's or to go on spaghetti, and she scoffed at us. Silly parents!
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