One day Sokoo, our exchange student from S. Korea, decided that she wanted some coffee as she wanted to stay up later than usual to get some studying done and she was tired.
I volunteered to reheat what was left of the morning's brewed pot or to brew her a new pot because we didn't have any instant coffee.
But she insisted that she wanted instant and then began to concoct her beverage. First she asked me if I had any coffee beans. I showed her where they were. She didn't know the word for grinder but she made the motion of one so I showed her the grinder and then ground the beans for her. I was very amused by all of this because I could tell that she thought instant coffee was just made by grinding up the beans and putting them in boiling water and that they would "dissolve." I told her that it was not the same thing and that this wasn't going to work but she was insistent and since she is rather stubborn by nature I just let her go forward with her plan.
She proceeded to put the coffee grounds in a cup and was about to pour boiling water on them. I told her that she should at least put the grounds in one of those little tea strainer thingys so she did. None-the-less and not to my surprise, when she poured the water into the coffee cup, coffee grounds escaped the strainer and floated unappetizingly loose in the coffee cup.
Next she asked me if I had any cream. I didn't, but offered her the 1/2% milk from the fridge which she liberally poured into the cup.
After that she asked for sugar and then proceeded to dump 4 heaping teaspoons into the murky brown liquid and stirred it in.
I watched her as she hesitatingly took that first sip to try it out. Her expression said it all but her broken English said it better; "I think this isn't coffee."
And you know what? I think she was right!!!!!!!!
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4 comments:
HAHAHA, I think maybe it's not that she is being defiant, but she's not understanding when you explain things to her. This story made me laugh so hard! I want to meet Soo!
Okay, all I can do is shake my head. My boyfriend's mother insists that all Asians are brilliant, and this is exactly the anecdote I can use to prove her wrong! LOL
Just rethought, and it's not that I'm calling poor Soo dumb (especially since she had to drink those coffee grounds! Ha!) but it is a very entertaining story.
I love the ending...it sounds like the barrier of understanding between my mother-in-law and I....although the other way around...she is thinking the things that I do shouldn't work...and she is nonplussed when they do. Of course that goes both ways. It is a good learning process. but blechhhh...let me pass on the coffee!
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