Intro to How I Learned to Communicate Across Cultures
Their three-year-old put down the 30 centimeter long knife he had been playing with, the same knife my soldier friend had used to cut the cabbage, and took a wad of kimchee and put it in his mouth. While savoring it, he bounced gleefully
about the room. I figured if it were edible to him, it must be okay for me. Wrong! There was a sizzle just as it passed my lips. I am sure my eyes began to water. I dropped my chopsticks and looked in vain for something cold to drink. I settled for the steaming hot noodle soup, which I think singed any remaining functional taste buds. My hosts laughed out loud, a very unusual action for Asians. They did not laugh mockingly but as if they understood the challenges this foreigner faced when trying to bridge the gastronomical gap of our two countries. I wondered had they invited other ‘Joes’ to come home before so they could enjoy this experience with other unknowing gaijins (foreigners.) I never before nor since have tasted anything so spicy hot. My soldier friend may have told me his name, but the kimchee burned those memory cells away as well. The Koreans like it spicy hot and Midwestern Americans like it cold or bland. I wondered why. I wondered what else was different about us. I wondered in what areas we are the same as well.
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