Spam A Lot?

Karen and I just finished a 7 day trip to Seoul, South Korea. The next few blogs will be about some of the things we saw, heard, tasted and otherwise experienced while staying in quite possibly the coolest Asian city we have visited.

On the second day in Seoul, while on the subway(which had heated seats...get with it Chicago!), we saw a well dressed woman carrying a large bag filled with several cans of Spam. It was strange, for sure, and confusing, but we watched her exit the subway with her cans of pressed meat and thought nothing more of it. It wasn't until a few days later when we came across a few Westerners that we found out the truth about Koreans and their Spam. Its actually considered a very classy gift in the Korean culture to give someone Spam. Since meat is so expensive in Korea, Spam is seen as a luxury item. When one Korean gives another Spam, its not the punchline to some joke, but rather a show of respect and a thoughtful gesture. Think about that the next time you walk past Spam in the grocery store....