Lunchtime Mishaps

I am the last person to know anything at my school. Even then, I only find out what the teachers who speak English deem necessary for me to know. On the occasions that I am told what is going on, five times out of ten I find out after the matter. Today’s lunch was definitely one of those five times when I was only privy to information after the event occurred.

School time lunches have three staples: rice, soup, and kimchi; the rest of the dishes change daily and unpredictably. Per usual, I made my way to the teacher’s cafeteria with my usual lunch dates, Sue and Su Min. When I reached the lunch line, the first thing I saw was the soup. Today’s was puréed black bean and rice soup. I’ve had this one before and know enough about it to know I don’t like it. However, being an ‘adult’ at my school I am given the luxury of picking and choosing what I want on my lunch tray. Thus, I bypassed the soup. I knew this would not go unnoticed since skipping any of the three staples is guaranteed to cause an interrogation as to why I’m not eating it. However, to my surprise no one said anything; not one teacher. This was truly a first. Relieved, I continued eating my lunch and minding my own business.

Then on the way back to the office, the other shoe dropped so to speak. Immediately after leaving the lunchroom, my a colleague asked me, “Why didn’t you eat the soup?”
“Oh, that soup isn’t my favorite. So I decided not to have it.” I replied.
“I see. But today is a special day in Korea. “
“It is?” Shoot, here it comes.
“Yes. Today is the shortest day. On this day every year, we eat that soup.” She explained.
“Oh, I see.” I stated slowly while trying to think of something better to say.
“It was very strange for you not to eat the soup today.” She continued.
“I didn’t know. If I had—“ I stated, but was quickly cut off.
“Well lunch is finished now.”
“Should I have just eaten the soup?”
“Yes.” She stated matter-of-factly.
“Sorry.”

Sorry was all I could think to say. I wasn’t sure what my colleagues expected me to say. I didn’t mean to offend anyone, but clearly I had. However, a head’s up on the walk to the lunch room would have been nice. I often find myself in this compromising position of acquiring information after the fact. Oh well, another day and another lunch hour survived. I think it’s sufficient to say that for the last five days of work, I will put a little bit of everything on my tray to cover my bases. Oops!