If you read this post, you may think I’m more bland and boring than a bag full of rice cakes. But let me tell you, I would eat those rice cakes. And I would like them. Does that make me even more dull?
I am admittedly 100% NOT adventurous when it comes to food. I eat the club sandwich everywhere I go. (Jason’s Deli has the best one, by the way). If there is no club sandwich, I find something with chicken. That’s the extent of food adventures in the land of Rebecca.
So when my husband and I went to London and Paris a few years ago, I quickly found two comfortable foods: roast in London and crepes in Paris. I did not deviate from those two food choices, unless we were somewhere where roast or crepes were not to be found. Then I ate a croissant or other such bland, safe food. And you know what? I was very happy with my food choices. They tasted good! Why did I need to look around for something else?
My ethnic food loving brother is appalled at my taste (haha) in food. When he went to Paris a few years ago, he ate escargot and other such French delicacies that make me want to vomit. He can not fathom how I could go to Paris and not even try French food, even if just to be able to say that I tried it.
But I was there for the culture. And yes, you could argue that food is a huge part of the culture. But, deficient tastebuds that I have, I really didn’t care about that part of the culture. I wanted to see the art, the architecture, the gardens, the people. I wanted to hustle and bustle on the subways, observing the French in their fashionable clothes. I wanted to see the neighborhoods where these people lived and shopped. I wanted to walk hand-in-hand with my sweet husband along the Seine and the River Thames on a starry night.
And that is why I can’t fathom how my brother could drive by the Louvre, but not enter, not even to say he saw the Mona Lisa.
Obviously, everyone experiences cultures differently- even people raised by the same parents. How do you experience a new culture? Through the food, the arts, the people?
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I’m definitely not adventurous with food either…I think Thai food is the most ethnic thing I’ve had, and even still I always get the same thing (salad and fried rice…totally not “real” Thai food!). I think I’m more like you, I’d want to see the people and where they live…visit the museums and see the history behind that country. People fascinate me, so I think I’d be perfectly fine sitting at a cafe listening to people talk…even if I had no clue what they were saying.
I can honestly say equally both. And before meeting tyler I prob would have gone more on your side.
when were you in paris!!??? i think i remember that you went to london, but i didn’t know you went to paris too! that’s so rad! you know, i’m pretty sure that some of the food that i had to eat on my mission was completely unnecessary for me to understand hungarian culture…after all, as long as i know that THEY like to eat pig-fat jello or huge hunks of sausage, what difference does it make if I try it??
(i never comment on your blogs because i’m shy. but now that i’m IN on the blogging thing – i’m putting it all out there woo hoo!!)
Let’s all go to Paris for my 70th birthday. I want some culture.
It takes all kinds. Nice that we all can find something we like even if it is different.