"It's Okay"

The moments ticked by more quickly than I could count. My host mom stared at me, her eyebrows raised. I desperately fished around in my head for the correct thing to say, knowing that the next couple moments were key.

“是好的!” I blurted out, desperately hoping it was the right thing to say. It was a literal translation of the English phrase “it’s okay” -  taken in America to mean no thank you – but apparently taken differently in China. My words resulted in a giant smile across my host mom’s face as she unwrapped the package in her hands and stabbed the contents with a toothpick. Still smiling, she handed me the preserved snail she had brought back with her from a trip to Taiwan.

A moment later, I discovered that I do not enjoy snails. I especially do not enjoy snails that are salty, chewy, and reminiscent of cuttlefish. Yet what else could I do but eat it and attempt a smile when my host mom was clearly overjoyed that I was trying the food she had just given me? Personally, I was not blessed with a penchant for enjoying exotic foods; although I’ll generally eat most things, snails were up to that point not on my list of foods I had consumed, nor planned to. For me, eating a snail was an extremely unpleasant experience; in stark contrast, my host parents both seemed to greatly enjoy it. However, after this experience, I will never again use the phrase “是好的” to mean “no thank you”. Although the lesson itself may have been slightly unsavory*, the outcome was one of many language lessons that I believe will be fully worth whatever discomfiture I may encounter as a result.

*pun completely intended