Someone was! (adds smiley to make 20 characters but doesn’t mean it)
1 Like
The Kitchen Cabinet! I heard it too. I’m pretty sure they mentioned Hawaii too, isn’t one of the regular panelists from there?
1 Like
The story of SPAM is great!! 
no offense taken!
It actually stands for South Pacific Army Meat, and it did indeed originate during the war as rations.
My boys love it. Thankfully they introduced a low sodium version! Healthy SPAM if you will!
Fast forward to the Korean War. Americans who had supplies of SPAM would throw them to starving Koreans… who then used it in resourceful ways. There’s something called army ration stew… you can get it to this day in Korea.
I didn’t know what this was or what was in it. My boys insisted on taking me to a cafe that served it… and said, Mama we can’t tell you what’s in it… because then you won’t eat it. Please please try it?
I did! Among the ingredients… hot dogs, top ramen noodles, Kim chee, and you guessed it…SPAM!!!
It was pretty good, but once was enough for me. @chicagohost knows about this!
There is one cafe in Kona that serves it, my boys order it every time. 
1 Like
Ah, you skipped right by the American occupation of Japan after the second World War when SPAM was fed to a country that was starving. Some of the SPAM preparations I saw in Japan 10 years ago were, as most Japanese food is, a form of artwork. I have been told that the love of SPAM is waining in Japan as the people who were children during/after the war are dying.
2 Likes
In Seoul there were stores with SPAM gift packs everywhere…
This is not the best pic but this is what we saw on display everywhere.
1 Like
We can laugh all we want about SPAM, but I would gladly volunteer to be an heir to that family fortune!
2 Likes
Possibly. There’s definitely one panellist with a transatlantic accent. I only heard the bit about gift packs for sale in Seoul, as illustrated below! I think I was traumatised at the memory of greasy spam fritters for school dinners, so turned it off. It was a long time before I consciously realised that I was born whilst post war rationing was still in situ.
you still haven’t lightened up yet?
Barns, I’m sure you must know that I have a non-stop sense of humor. It’s my nature and there is rarely a day that goes by that I don’t have some good laughs. My bane in life is dealing with people with little or no sense of humor.
This matter happens to be personal to me and doesn’t call for my lightening up…and it would help if you held back on comments which are unkind to me.
2 Likes
Having been vegetarian most of my life and only ever eaten chicken and seafood (even as a baby) my sister has threatened to take me to the SPAM museum on my upcoming trip to MN! She said it’s 
2 Likes
Just accepted my first booking for a Chinese Family with a small dog for 4 nights, Im going to explain how the bins work on check in!
Fingers X
Lol I’m clearly not trying to educate anyone and only at a point where I (and others) would like all of this ethnic-splaining guised as “humor” to stop. I’m speaking out of personal frustration and the rudeness is intentional and about on par to what has been written.
Westerners seem to have a lot of opinions about things that they know very little about and talk in very large generalities. I don’t know, it’s just very weird to me. Please feel free to interject. I know Westerners need to have the last word on other cultures and all. 
2 Likes
Right. My point is that either way I would not actually assume that point, though. And I would not consider it indicative of “other” culture.
Hi @Emily
I’ve read through @AFineHouse 's comments and don’t see them as being rude, but rather frustrated that something about her own country was being stated as fact, that from her own experience she knew to be patently untrue.
And that even when she pointed this out, the person concerned, still argued with her.
This is not the first time the poster has done this. I was told how BAME parents of children who look white feel, even though I am one and this is not my experience.
2 Likes
Oooh, flashback to SPAM, onion and mustard sandwiches when my Scout troop ran out of fresher provisions on wilderness canoe trips. I recall them as delish, but then “hunger makes the best sauce,” right?
1 Like
I probably had 3-400 Chinese guests. My experience is that they’re often less tidy than others, may leave hair and water everywhere, may not answer my message when I ask when they’ll arrive and may arrive whenever it pleases them, early morning or late at night (check in hours 12-22).
Still I love my Chinese guests. They are the most trustful, warm and friendly, will immediately feel like home, don’t demand any luxury, are intelligent and honest (no political correctness) and will often leave as friends. Chinese guests have improved my life and I’ve learned a lot from them.
1 Like
No. @EllenN didn’t make any jokes and you were very rude to her regarding things she stated, you believe are wrong.
Totally hypocritical, wrong and a generalization. So it’s ok for you to make inaccurate claims about ‘Westerners’ (which is not a homogeneous group, an outdated term and refers to billions of people from multiple continents with vastly different cultures) but nobody can make comments about China or Chinese people based on their genuine travels, experience or publications on the internet that understood to be factual in good faith.
Please grow up. Come here to learn and contribute in a positive way or please reconsider if this is the right forum for you.
3 Likes
I took @AFineHouse’s comments about ‘Westerners’ as being very much tongue in cheek. Just as many established hosts make tongue in cheek remarks in response to issues around certain alleged traits of people of various nationalities.
If I made a comment about someone else’s country, which they told me was incorrect based on their first hand experience of living in that country, I certainly wouldn’t continue to challenge them and dispute what they say.
Cultural diversity on this forum which is for international hosts should be celebrated.
It’s not up to you to tell someone to ‘grow up’ and that they should consider whether they continue to be a member. That is certainly rude.
2 Likes
I didn’t challenge her and dispute what she said. I asked if my sources (including numerous Chinese guests) were incorrect. She never responded that they were in fact incorrect. She also didn’t give me links to correct information which would have been great. I’m always up for learning new information.
1 Like