jackie, that is the way you are because you haven't jumped head first into a different culture!
Humans are very addaptable.. and very quickly a 'foriegn culture' isn't foriegn, its just everyday.(everyday!)
and there is a cultural 'reacclimation' period when you return home.
Every culture has some great ideas that are either mis understood, or generally rejected by others.. when you live in the culture, learn them, see them in use.. you wonder why in the world doesn't everyone do this! when you come home, you want to keep the good ideas...
(like wise every culture has some horrid ideas and you wonder how they were ever adoped..
same is true for foods.. hunger (real hunger, not just the ususally (mostly satisfied quickly in america ) desire to eat, make foods that you think you'd never eat, taste good.
and besides, everyone else is eating them with relish.. and soon you too dig into ...
in japan, i ate food that i didn't recognize, and my b-i-l had no english name for.. (he lived here 10 years) and he said --'i never say this word in english' --so obviously its not something commonly eaten here. it wasn't bad (we had take a long walk along the beach on a very cold and windy day.. and taken turns carrying my neice.. (18months old at the time) we had skipped lunch (and just had a pack of peanuts as a mid day snack.. by 8pm when we had dinner, i was willing to eat anything! and did! even stuff that i didn't know what it was that i was eating!
(it was sort of vaguely stringy.. but more like the constistantcy of overcook spaghetti in egg whites (only it was pinks and grey..)
Another -stan
