Gift?

Now, birthdays are great fun. Of course, one of the reasons for such fun is that you do often get gifts, ranging from the thoughtful to the mundane. But every now and then you get something truly great. Well, a friend had a birthday last week and she received in the mail a package from her brother.



That's supposed to be candy. Korean candy.

Now, I don't want to knock Korean candy here...not specifically. I know enough to know that different cultures and peoples enjoy different things, especially when it comes to food. On top of that I will say that in the grand scheme of things, I am probably a fairly picky eater. So it is essential that we all understand that my opinion is not alone when it comes to this so-called candy box. Example number 1:



A mutual friend of both the birthday girl and myself. Trying candy. And that expression is about what you need to know. Some were average. Some were tolerable. Some were downright nasty. The crowd favorite as far as most terrible? Start with the empty box in the upper left of that first picture. Then go one down and one right. The two circles that are kind of lavendar colored. With no discussion or collaboration the opinion of everyone who tried it was this: tastes like playdough and feels like chalk in your mouth. Yum.

However, just to buck up the spirits of the sender we should note here that this questionable candy (and we are all curious to know if Navin tried said candy) also sent a couple other gifts.



Socks and cell phone bling. Hmmm. I'll say the socks are impressively original when walking the mean streets around here. So I am excited to see the birthday girl take them on their maiden voyage. I am also excited to make fun of the birthday girl if the cell phone bling makes it onto her cell phone.

In the end, these gifts, while suspicious, have provided days of intrigue, discussion, and memorable tastes. Who knew all of us as kindergarteners eating playdough actually knew a thing or two about foreign sweet delicacies?