Food. Food is something that I am definitely not picky about and to think of one specific experience with it is not an easy task for me. However, I do remember one shocking experience with food when I was in Monaco, a small country right next to France.
When you think of duck, duck, goose what do you think of? Most people would say they think of the childhood game where you pick a "goose" to chase you around in a circle. Perhaps some would think of a pond or a yellow beak. You would think that rarely could someone come up with a negative connotation for duck, duck goose. Well, I am unfortunately the rare occasion. Every time someone brings up that game; or points out a duck/goose in a pond, I am the small percentage that has the ability to automatically think negative.Why? Because of one small experience in Monaco that changed my life.
Going to Monaco was not only a vacation, it was also a business trip for my friends father who was nice enough to let me join them on this luxurious adventure overseas. Never before had I been treated like such royalty until arriving at Monaco. We took limos everywhere, stayed at the best hotel in the country, and got wined and dined almost every day.
One night my friends father had to take clients out for dinner, which was of course at one of the fanciest restaurants in the surrounding area. We arrive at this place and quickly realize this is no ordinary restaurant, we were preparing ourselves for a five course dinner, something I have never experienced. We get our first plate. To my surprise, the portion of soup I was given was small enough to have a slurp and it was something I had never tasted before. To be polite, I ate everything that came my way, including the third entree. Now this was something I had never tasted before. Not only had I never tasted or seen anything like this food, but the waiters at the restaurant spoke french, and only french. Asking them what they were serving me was out of the question and asking anyone at the table would have been rude. So what did I do? Ate this disgusting, horrid and smelly dish, hoping it wasn't anything I would regret.
The dinner ended and so did this five course extravaganza. We got back to the hotel and finally it was just my friends family and me. Her parents were like my second set of parents. They knew everything about me and I knew everything about them. Feeling awkward asking them about dinner was out of the question and were the first words that came out of the mouth once we departed from the client.
So what was this horrid smelling, disgusting third course I had? DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE! Never again will I think of these animals the same way or the game. The family and me had to laugh when it was all said and done. "Going to another country is all about new experiences," her father said laughing. They didn't like the duck or goose either, but when it comes to business, "you gotta do what you gotta do,"- her father.
