The most succint phrasing doesn't always turn out to be the best

I believe I put my foot in my mouth to some small extent today. I was in conversation with one of the students at Nova and she asked me what I liked about teaching. To which my reply was that "I find the opportunity to speak personally to Japanese people fascinating, it's like being able to conduct a miniature anthropological study." To which her resonse was, predictably along the lines of, "So, we're like lab rats?" I managed to clear myself of the role of disinterested researcher, but not without some (continuing to this moment) embarassment.
I realize something along the lines of "It's fascinating to be able to learn so much about the cultural differences between Japan and America" would have been more appropriate. However, in truth, I do consider every conversation I have to be a kind of anthropological research. This, of course, is not on any conscious level, but in the sense that all human interaction leads to a greater understanding of societal function, cultural norms and behavior. I consider this to be on a much lower level than the enjoyment to be derived from the purely social aspect of conversation; an ancillary consideration. I do believe though that rational, analytical thought and, yes, even conversational exegesis are important tools for daily life. But, I think I shall cut this entry short before it gets so pretentious that it devolves into a critical essay on Leonard Cohen.