T A B L E_T A L K Discuss the places you love to loathe in Table Talk's Wanderlust area R E C E N T L Y The big steamy? By Courtney Weaver Searching for sex in New Orleans (02/04/98) Fear, drugs, and soccer in Asia By Karl Taro Greenfeld Hedonistic expats: Fear, drugs and soccer in Asia (02/02/98) I got it online, part 2 By Jenn Shreve Comparing the pros and cons of four Internet travel services (02/02/98) I got it online, part 1 By Jenn Shreve There really are advantages to making your travel plans on the Web (01/30/98) America, grow up! By David Downie The French and Italians decry the Clinton brouhaha (01/29/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Your virtual travel agency - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Road warrior archives		soba, so good____ _____FOREIGN ATHLETES AND SPECTATORS AT THE _____WINTER OLYMPICS MAY BE SURPRISED BY THE LOCAL _____CULINARY SPECIALTY: BUCKWHEAT NOODLES. _____- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Editor's note: During the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, Salon is joining forces with the Japanese publishing company ASCII to present bilingual, bicultural coverage of the Games. Articles by ASCII's journalists will appear in English translations in Salon, and articles by Salon's reporters will appear in Japanese on the ASCII Olympics site. The article below is the first product of this venture. You can learn about ASCII on its English site. BY KOJI YOSHII | You may come across soba restaurants everywhere in Japan, but Nagano, where the Olympic Games will be held beginning next week, is believed to be the area where soba originated. There are three kinds of noodles in Japan: ramen (thin Chinese noodles), udon (thick white noodles) and soba (buckwheat noodles). Ramen is popular throughout the world, and noodles similar to udon can also be found in China. But soba is a noodle indigenous to Japan. While ramen, udon and spaghetti are made of wheat, soba is made differently. It's made from powder extracted from the seeds of a plant called soba, which originally meant buckwheat itself. Soba buckwheat normally grows in barren soil. The Nagano area is mountainous and not suitable for rice farming, but soba has been produced plentifully there. Interestingly enough, America has indirectly contributed to the preservation of the Japanese soba tradition. The Japanese government has been trying to reduce the domestic production of rice -- partly because America wants to sell rice to Japan. This policy of the U.S. government is a threat to Japanese farmers, for American rice is very low-priced, and there has been much debate as to whether Japan should import cheap American rice or protect the domestic rice producers. But because of the reduction of rice production encouraged by the Japanese government, farmers have begun to convert their rice fields into soba fields. Japanese businessmen, particularly those middle-aged or older, love to have soba noodles for lunch. It is easy to digest and not heavy, and does not take time to eat up. The old American and European joke is that Japanese businessmen spend no more than five minutes for lunch because they eat so efficiently, and this is the chief reason for Japan's remarkable economic growth. You order soba and it is brought to you, and you really can eat it all in five minutes. I am greatly fond of soba, too. But I never eat it in such a short time. First I order beer and have a good drink, then I focus on zaru-soba, the representative dish among the variety of soba dishes. I take a minimum of one hour to finish. N E X T+P A G E+| Culture shock and the best soba

PHOTO BY HIROSHI TANAKA | COURTESY OF ASCII