The Gift of SPAM

Mmmmmm......SPAM

During our initial orientation we were told that many Koreans believe westerners love SPAM.  We were also told that there was a high probability that we would be given SPAM as a giftt.  Up until recently I have managed to escape the gift of SPAM.

However, I have noticed that in the grocery store, in the aisle with a ton of western products, there is an unusually large amount of SPAM products.  I pretty much look at it as the SPAM aisle and skirt past it rather swiftly, so as not to perpetuate the myth about westerners' love of SPAM.  After all, I must look out for my successors!  Just last night, Dan and I were in the grocery store and saw a HUGE, monster display of SPAM gift sets.  Yes, SPAM git sets.  We were chuckling over them, making comments like, "Wow, can't say I have ever seen a SPAM gift set before" and "Can you imagine this being sold in the states?" etc.

Chuseok is a Korean national holiday that is coming up next week.  My love & anticipation for Chuseok boils down to the fact that I'll have 3 days off of school!  But it is a big holiday for Koreans whom many travel across the country to visit their families, exchange gifts and spend time with loved ones.  So all the newly stocked gift sets at the grocery store began to make sense.

Today, in honor of Chuseok, my principal gave me a rather large gift box of SPAM, complete with fancy SPAM logos & matching bag.  I was very thankful for the kind gesture and expressed a great deal of humble gratitude towards her, because really, it is wonderful to receive gifts, especially unexpected gifts.  As we were walking away, my regular teacher asked me, "Do you like SPAM?"  I never thought I would find myself in a position to lie about my fondness for SPAM, but I said without hesitation, "YES! I LOVE SPAM!".  :)

In all  honestly, I would never in my wildest dreams touch the stuff because I do have all sorts of hangups about what I perceive to be "weird, unidentifiable mystery meats".  Sure, fried SPAM, well--it is kind of freakishly good, but again, the health nut in me just won't go there (Maybe Dan will eat it!).

So, despite my best efforts, the myth about westerners loving SPAM persists....  And yes, at least to my Korean coworkers, I too LOVE SPAM.