One of my first months living in Colombia I was invited to a potluck BBQ and was tasked with bringing boneless chicken breasts. As my Spanish at the time was less than adequate, I ran into a snag at the supermarket describing what I wanted. I knew how to say chicken (pollo) but "breasts" was not a part of my vocabulary. This scenario ended with a lot of blushing and a possibly inappropriate public game of charades. Nevertheless, cultural differences ultimately create good stories.
Cultural differences between family members, however, have got to be even more entertaining. No doubt they are more frequent as well! The contributor-driven website My Dad Is A FOB contains quotes, emails, and stories from cross-cultural families, usually where the parents have immigrated and not fully assimilated to their new host-country's language or nuances. "Fresh Off the Boat" parents telling their daughters to not date casually with emailed lessons such as "If you are in sandy beech send will be all over your body and so does it blacken you if you are in a coalmine." or conversations misusing "sexy" instead of "sexist" color this humorous site.
Some people don't have to go further than a family dinner to have a "cultural experience!"
Sergio del Limonar
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