culture shock

Good question about cultural acclimation. I think there are some foods, like live octopus, that one would not have to eat the be accepted by one's new home.

I learned to eat the European way (with knife and fork) because that was expected, more or less, to nor be seen as holding on to Americanisms. I tried, and liked, black pudding because that was important to some Irish I know.


But in a case like this it appears than live octopus would be a rare food even in Korea.

 

I would start gagging if I even tried to eat raw animal, of any sort, more less moving raw animal. I think I would tend to be one skinny missionary as per my hang ups on what food goes into my mouth. JoJ had a tread a while back on rating the difficulties to missionaries and I saw I would totally fail by the eating requirements.

 

Trying stinky fruit in Indonesia was enough to do me in....

 

Yep that was it....it was bad all around for me. TERRIBLE smell, bad taste, bad texture. I did not like it at all!

 

Bro. Roger didn't you use a knife and fork here in the good ole USA? If I remember right you are from down south, but I think even Blackbird uses a knife and fork.

Bill

 

For me the biggest moment of culture shock came when we landed in Indonesia and entered a smoke filled small airport and had to get our visas and all. It was quite intimidating. But once I got through those first few moments, I had a great trip.

 

Yes it did, very much so!

But I would not trade the experience for anything. It was my first overseas trip and I have a lot of great memories!

 

May I also add that our trip there and back we had a lay over in Singapore, and what a beautiful place! We even took a bus tour of the place. I really enjoyed it.

 

Well, you know - use a knife and fork the whole meal every meal, With the fork "upside down" and scrapping food onto it with the fork

 

Let me see, I've eaten octopus (dead but raw), squid (can be good if cooked right), eel (delicious with the right sauce), many different kinds of raw fish, natto (fermented soy beans, sticky and terrible tasting to me), green tea rice crackers, all sorts of seaweed (dry around rice crackers or wet in soup), smoked horse and many other delicacies.

But to me culture shock is the time I stopped at a convenience store early in our career and bought a chocolate chip ice cream bar. But when I bit into it the chocolate chips were beans!! Of course that tasted better than the green tea ice cream I've had since!

Or, there was the time out on evangelism that I stopped my scooter by a drink machine and decided to try a new brand. One swallow and I had to look at the ingredients, only to find that it was one per cent alcohol. So the first time in my life I ever tasted beverage alcohol was as a missionary--out on evangelism!


Oh, and then there were the chocolates given to us by my wife's English student. Popped one in my mouth, chewed it and then swallowed the real bourbon that was in it. WOW!!!

 

We traveled a lot when I was growing up, and I was always the designated taste tester. I'll try just about anything once! The worst food I can remember was in Israel (sorry!). Just bland, bland, bland. But I did find a good vinegar salad there, as well as some kind of puff pastry that was not bad.

love,

Sopranette

 

I don't always think of food when I think of culture shock, though that is certainly a major idea of culture shock.

The squatty Potties were a shock to me.

As were bathrooms.

 

:laugh: :laugh: I've never heard them referred to as "sqautty potties!" I love it!

Reminds me of a story. Missionary kids are wonderful. I love them! But sometimes they create their own culture from the two languages and cultures they live in daily.

Our mission director and his wife once came over to Japan to visit us all. While they were at one house, a little MK boy said proudly to Mrs. M., "We have three benjos (potties) in our house!" Mrs. M. innocently said, "That's nice. Do you know how to play the banjo?"