One of these things is not like the others

Imagine a cafeteria that holds 200 or so students. Imagine all but a few seats are taken by noisy freshman and sophomores slurping noodles, doing their hair, talking on their cell phones, or yelling across the table at each other. Now, put me in there. I'm holding my tray, wandering around the tea dispensers scanning the tables for a seat. All of a sudden, it is stunningly clear. I see myself, and I see everyone else. Which of these things does not belong? Standing in a cafeteria does not seem foreign until you realize that you are by yourself amidst hundreds of Japanese; and suddenly you realize that you really are in a different country.