A Little Zap of Culture Shock

When  you grow up in one city all your life, it becomes second nature to think you know everything. Travelling opens your eyes to reality.

I traveled to the 2012 London Olympic Games this summer to do promotional work for Samsung. Samsung is a prominent Korean company, so we ate at several Korean restaurants.

At one point, we were simultaneously served a bowl of kimchi (a spicy, pickled Korean cabbage that is revered in that country) alongside sheets of salted nori, an algae sheet like what sushi is wrapped in.

Eager to join in, I happily began wrapping leaves of kimchi within nori. To be honest...it tasted pretty good!

The table fell silent around me.

I looked up from eating my pseudo-sandwich to several Korean faces staring back blankly. What a wonderful moment of realization that was...

I am somewhere different, with different people and I DON'T know everything.

I smiled as I unraveled my concoction and proceeded to eat the two appetizers separately. The conversations at our table resumed, and I absorbed my brief moment of culture shock.

Another Korean meal we ate in London. This time, confusion-free!