Becoming "Culturally Aware"

How many times have you used the phrase, "I'm hungry enough to eat a horse"? Well, this week in the IBM ZRL cafeteria, you had that chance. On the menu was horse, or Pferdesteak. While a few members of my group were quite pleased with their equine lunch (served with a side of fries), others found the idea less than appealing; this polarization wasn't confined to specific countries, with people from different places and backgrounds chiming in for different sides. Even among the Swiss IBMers there were different attitudes towards eating horse.

While I personally find the idea of eating Secretariat rather horrendous, I also acknowledge that part of my revulsion is based on American cultural taboo that differentiates a foal from lamb or veal. The whole situation made me think back to a different lunchtime discussion about being "culturally aware," a term IBM had coined in its sensitivity training but that was jokingly turned around to mean that if you find something offensive or unlikeable, you must not be "culturally aware" enough.

Then I reflected on things I've found surprising or unlikeable while in Switzerland. A surprising thing is that Swiss friends kiss on the cheeks when meeting or leaving one another. Not to be outdone by the French, they take it to the extreme, with 3 alternating-cheek kisses. This fact wasn't particularly unlikeable, merely very surprising to a "hugs-only" American. Other surprises include blatant nudity in the evening papers and on television, which in the US would be covered by a black censor bar or just banned entirely.

Then there is the less desirable eating of foals, and funnily enough, a matter related to swing dancing. Apparently in Switzerland, it's expected that one dances at least 2 dances in a row with a single partner before moving on. Bailing out after the first dance generally implies that the dance was just terrible. For so many reasons, I dislike this unwritten requirement, though I'm at least aware of its existence now.

So I guess I will remain blissfully "culturally unaware" about things like horse meat and "required-dances" swing dancing, but if that's what bothers me most about Switzerland, I'd say things are going pretty well. So how culturally aware are you? Would you eat a horse?