Redneck offspring go global....

Culture? What is culture? Ask an Okie kid and, depending on how deep in the flatlands that kid has roots, the answer might well be associated with a grade of milk, their past experiences with strep-throat or tests given to sick horses or cows.

But not tonight. Tonight culture meant something that people from other countries do in the same manner redneck children attend rodeos, watch Oklahoma football, wear coveralls, fish in tanks and eat chicken-fried steak on Sunday. Instead of being from here, tonight most of the town pretended to be from somewhere else all together.

Ann and her friends were assigned Thailand. I've never been to Thailand but now I know more about that esteemed country than I ever hoped to. Most parents here are in the same boat tonight, their children having spent a GREAT DEAL of time since Christmas studying for this community involvement project. From France to Costa Rica, from Mexico to Egypt, groups of children from the fifth to 12th grades meticulously assembled the traditional dress of their chosen country, presented to a gathering of townspeople important facts about the country, including songs, and then proudly served up an attempt at that country's cuisine. Sensitive to the fact that the State of Oklahoma harbors many separate Native American nations, those "countries" were presented alongside the United States.

Since 3:30 this afternoon, Ann and her friends worked hard (with $60 of food I purchased) cooking original Pad-Thai from scratch. I left the kitchen to them, only helping out when they had questions about how to scramble an egg and the difference between a Tablespoon and a teaspoon. The mess in my house was daunting but the children were learning on their feet, watching the clock, planning and calculating.

Our Salvadorian Spanish teacher hosted Culture Night, seemingly aware of the insular nature of our white redneck community. His lilting accent provided an interesting backdrop to the childish Southwestern drawls attempting "Halito" in as many as 25 languages. The ensuing "global" feast was outstanding. The Thai dish prepared by Ann and her friends was quite well done, "redskin" peanuts and all. I suspect most parents watched as closely as I did and therefore the food was really good. Bittersweet chocolate from Russia, cake from Germany, sweetbread from Scotland, squash soup from the Chickasaws, Sweet and Sour Chicken from Japan, rice noodles from China, buffalo pemmican from the Seminoles, guacamole from Mexico to Peru, meatballs from Italy, good ole American chili and bitter Arab coffee. The only complaint I had (kept well to myself) was with the group who cleverly avoided English pudding and roast to honor the old country with five kinds of hot tea but failed to include English Breakfast. I shall have to tell Rachel that the second most popular drink in the known world (second only to Coca-Cola), didn't make the list in Oklahoma. LOL. It was more than pointed that the group charged with representing Iraq offered no food at all. When I questioned the young man attending the exhibit, he slyly noted that they had considered serving an American hamburger but decided against it. Those kids may not end up as world cuisine experts but they may well turn into American politicians. Hmmmmmm.....

I imagine that the food served all tasted mainly of America. But the 100 or so people who gathered for the global feast seemed impressed. I know I was. Just for a moment, we weren't quite as backward as we were before.