Different food style

Summary of the article

When the Lins were invited to dinner by their neighbors, the Gleasons, the hosts offered them to try celery raw with some of the dip made of sour cream, onion flakes, and Tabasco sauce. It was unusual for them because Chinese never eat raw vegetables and don't care for dairy products. When they saw that other guests were eating the raw celery quite happily, the Lins started trying to eat celery one by one, and they found that it was more than good. Even though it was delicious, they had problem with strings which caught in their teeth; therefore, the Lins began to pull strings of their celery, and made sounds of Z-z-zip. Suddenly they realized that everybody at the party was looking at them and was marveled.

After that, they had another embarrassing situation when Mrs. Gleason invited them to the dining table. By that time the Lins didn't have any idea about a buffet dinner, so they tugged their some dining chairs and sat down while everyone stood there. When Mrs. Gleason claimed them that they need to serve them and to eat it in the living room, the Lins beat a retreat to the sofa. For the rest of the evening, they were very embarrassed.


Similar case what I had

When I was traveling Thailand, I had same embarrassing situations with the food style. After 6 hours-long time flight I was tired and hungry like ready to eat everything. Therefore, the first thing I intended to do after landing was to find a something to eat and a place to rest. When I got my hotel, its restaurant was closed so went out at very late night. Not wasting a long time I found a small place where people were eating a kind of noodle soup which was looked very similar to Mongolian one. After a long line, I got my cup of soup and I hurried to taste the soup with an expectation to have something very delicious. But, I could not eat it because the soup was full of sugar and other unknown stuff. Before that I never ever have had such a sweet soup even I have experienced with travelling. So, I left my soup and went out to find something different, but I could not find anything except deep fried grasshoppers. That night I could not sleep well because of my hunger.

I also know that many foreigners in Mongolia have same feelings in many cases. We have Mongolian traditional tea called "Bortstoi Tsai" which includes cow milk, salt, green tea, little fried wheat flour, rice, and dried beef. Although it is very delicious for Mongolians, many foreigners cannot drink the tea and eat the dried beef. Moreover, when foreigners see how to kill a sheep for fresh meat, they cannot have a look at that. Like this every country has own culture and customs. Since all their own customs are suited in their environment, we should respect others and put yourself in others shoes. :-)