It is often said of the Chinese that they have quite the "adventurous" palate. Compared to the typical Western diet of muscle meats of the chicken, beef and pork varieties, Chinese cuisine is known to include such “delicacies” as offal and dog meat to name but a few. Such cultural differences in the definition of what constitutes food often lead to reactions of revulsion and disgust on the part of non-Chinese diners and can be a source of contention, as was the case in the following intercultural scenario observed within NUS’ own campus.
The brouhaha that unfolded in the Office of Student Affairs was between two students who shared a room in a hostel, one hailing from China and the other from Europe. A pigeon had flown into their room through the window while the European was away and the Chinese roommate had caught and cooked it. When the European returned, she was appalled by the Chinese student’s offer of a piece of the cooked pigeon. To make matters worse, there was an ongoing bird flu epidemic. So off they trouped to the OSA to settle their grievances in an incomprehensible shouting match mediated by a bemused professor who, experienced as he was, could not understand a word of the incoherent screaming, nor placate them for that matter. Ultimately, both parties left dissatisfied and changed hostels shortly after.
Personally, I felt it was much ado over nothing. A trivial incident, blown out of proportion by irreconcilable differences between two cultures worlds apart. As the old adage goes, one person’s meat is another’s poison. The Chinese student probably thought it only polite to offer her friend a share of the pigeon as food is communal in Chinese dining. How ungrateful it must have seemed, for the European to react with disgust. The European on the other hand, was not likely to have even considered the pigeon as edible and took it as an affront to her dignity when asked to eat a bird caught off the streets. Neither willing to postpone judgment of the other’s culture nor able place herself in the other’s perspective, the miscommunication was inevitable.
Falling out over trivia, but for a lack of cultural sensitivity their friendship might have endured, is that not the grandest of tragic misunderstandings?
