Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Last night I was a guest in a Korean home for the first time. It was a strange experience for me, not because of being a guest, which I enjoyed, but because I was in a very very Christian home. Very as in church every morning and ten years of missionary work abroad. As in quoting the Bible during after dinner conversation and referring frequently to the already open copy prominenetly on display.

Of course, I know plenty of Christians (or, at least, lapsed or casual Christian) back home. As the saying goes, "some of my best friends are...." but none with this level of commitment. The missionary thing makes me nervous, and then I wonder if that's fair on my part. I associate it with an intolerant attitude towad other religions, or a conviction that Christianity is the only true faith. Then I think, am I being similarly intolerant by having this preconception or prejudice about them? On the other hand (as Tevye would say in Fiddler on the Roof), there's the history of the Crusades, etc. and "nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition" (a quote I learned from my friends Gregory and Judy, I think referencing Monty Python?).

Everybody was perfectly pleasant and polite and hospitable, even serving me a vegetarian meal. My friend Judy had arranged the get-together to introduce me to her colleague, an English professor at Kangnam University, who may hire me to do some freelance writing for him. So, we talked shop as English instructors and university staff.

When they asked me after dinner, though, whether I go to church, I thought to myself, perhaps unfairly but nonetheless "here it comes, the conversion attempt." Fortunately (a funny word in this context), Judy had already told them I'm Jewish. I thought it was odd that the subject had even come up; I'd asked her to forewarn our hosts about my eating habits so there wouldn't be the awkwardness of the "I'm a vegetarian" announcement and all the attendant fuss, but I was surprised that religion had also been part of the pre-visit discussion. Judy explained to me that they had asked her when she first invited me if I were Christian too. Of course, they didn't un-invite me when they found out I wasn't, but again it was funny to me that the question had even come up. I suppose it's such a big part of their lives that their community is centered around the faith.

I haven't felt this exotic since I lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan!