I'll never forget my first experience with wasabi. My wife knew what it was and didn't warn me before I put a nickle size portion in my mouth.
Yeooooooowwwwww!
When I was a teenager I had a Japanese friend do that to me. I would have killed him, if I could have moved!
Nickle sized? You were lucky. The first time I had wasabi, I was eating alone, w/no one to warn me. I thought it was beautiful, all cool green. I put a big ole, mashed potato sized, forkful in my mouth with no idea what it was, but how bad could it be, right?
That'll learn me.