I felt like
I was living in the start of a joke. Two of the Korean YFC staff were visiting
ministry in Thailand. They wanted to meet with the leadership of Asia Pacific.
Right now the only Asia Pacific staff around are our Thai administrative staff
and myself. So this interesting cross-section of YFC staff headed off to grab
some lunch.
As we drove
to meet them, my Thai staff reflected on their experience with Koreans. They
found them to be generous. They found that Koreans linger over meals. They
found them to be expressive storytellers. It was interesting to listen to my
Thai friends prepare to engage with a different culture.
For me lunch
was an interesting game of telephone. One of the Koreans only spoke Korean. The
other Korean spoke Korean and Thai. My co-workers speak Thai and English. So
the Korean leader would speak. It would get translated into Thai and then
translated into English and then the exchange would reverse directions.
Most of the
meal was in Thai, so it gave me a great chance to listen and try to identify my
vocabulary words. I was actually surprised when I could follow along with some
of the stories told. It was great encouragement to continue my language study
although my brain felt like it would explode by the end of the afternoon.
I found it
entertaining to watch the cultural exchange between the Koreans and Thais at
lunch. It was a great reminder that we all must learn to connect
cross-culturally. This is not just something for Westerners, but even Asian
culture to Asian culture. My Thai staff would usually rush through lunch and
they chose to linger. They even agreed to go to coffee after lunch. They
listened to many animated stories told by the Korean leaders. The afternoon was
filled with laughter. It was a great reminder of how our world grows, no matter
our culture, when we choose to engage with those different from us.
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