"Watch out for Knuckles!"

I was in the drive thru at my regular Starbucks today and was reminded of some sage advice I received from my dad many years ago.

One of the baristas has just returned from a missions trip to china and we began to discuss her trip and how it went. Inevitably any conversation about travel to foreign countries ends up with the topic of the local cuisine. She was surprised at how much she disliked the food... I mean who doesn't like chinese food?

We always are surprised as Americans that the ethnic foods we love here in the States are not the same in their countries of origin. I absolutely love Japanese food for instance, but in my travels in Japan I lost weight.... really... I was starving! The things I thought of as traditional Japanese food like Sushi, Teppanyaki, etc... were not to be found? Instead 101 ways to cook tofu...

Anyway... as me and my barista were commiserating on our culinary misgivings I remembered this pertinent fatherly advice I mentioned earlier. My Dad as a world missions traveler extrordinaire while always wanting to be polite to his various hosts in missions travels had this to say... "Watch out for knuckles... this is where I draw the line" Good advice dad... good advice. Think about it...

One of my favorite pics I took a couple years ago :-)

Not too many animals with knuckles... he was speaking in a remote jungle village in India when he was given a bowl of soup... with knuckles... and fingers... I think it is important to follow this sage advice. I would also learn the local language for words like:

Brain

Innards

Stomach

Intestine


You get the idea... enjoy your travels... and watch out for the knuckles!