childhood memory

[mckitterick]

normalcyispasse reminded me of this; he's teaching in Korea now, where I lived for about a year during my first-grade year. Thought I'd share the story here:

When I was a little boy living in a boss-owned neighborhood north of Seoul, the boss-man invited my mother and me to his house for frequent dinners. Americans were rare then; it was during the Vietnam War, and soldiers' families weren't supposed to be there. So it pleased him to have as guests these exotic foreigners, especially me and my brother with our blond hair.

I recall eating many things I wouldn't have touched while living in the US. But Boss Man explained to me that since my dad was away serving on the DMZ, I was the man of the house and must eat what's offered to save face for my family. Gourmet items he offered included things like transparent soup - served in glass bowls, of course - with complete fish (and other objects) floating within them; octopi the size of small children; "Thousand-Year Eggs" and their attendant bouquet; and all manner of stinky and spicy foods I couldn't hope to recognize and wouldn't touch today. But I ate them, because Boss Man and his sons had frequently demonstrated how important "face" was to them, and I didn't want to harm my family.

I would love to be able to watch the Koreans' faces while I stoically put such delicacies into my mouth, a little 6-year-old boy eating what I'm sure many of them wouldn't dare try. I do recall hearing some of the Korean party guests laughing as I ate something. Ha ha.

Best,
Chris

Comments

[everflame.livejournal.com]

That's awesome.

I smell a short story!

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

My son lived there for 18 months. His students took him out to dinner after classes when they found out he was skipping it to got to class to teach them as a volunteer. Of course they also loved challenging his gustatory limits. One night they had him close his eyes and eat something. Nutty flavor and crunch. He said that he knew it was bugs, and it was ok, except with nuts you never got legs or wing bits stuck in your teeth. Probably his stoic evaluation was disappointing.

[the-monkey-king.livejournal.com]

That's a wonderful story. My family has a long history with exotic foods, from the 1000 year eggs (my father ate the first one, but demurred when pressed with a second -- the feathers tickled, the bones crunched) to tripe and candy chilis and beer.

But then, I've always wanted to get my hands on chocolate locusts and snake blood soup.

[chernobylred.livejournal.com]

That's just mean. And I thought I didn't like children.

[weaselmom.livejournal.com]

Well, you know how I feel about (a) family and (b) doing stupid things for the sake of "face" and (c) forcing people to eat disgusting things for reasons connected to (a) or (b). Even as a six-year-old boy, you were a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

[emessar.livejournal.com]

I've often wondered how many things in Asian cuisine were actually just cruel jokes to play on foreigners.