Day 482: Gimme The Spice!

There are tolerances for many things in life. Alcohol, caffeine, and various drugs of all kinds all create differing levels of tolerance within our bodies that change with time. The equation is simple. The more of any substance that we consume, the greater tolerance our body builds towards it.

And one personal change in tolerance that I've experienced since moving to Korea is how well I handle spicy food. I used to have what I would have considered an "average" tolerance for spicy food, but fast-forward through 16 months of being in Korea and I would now boast my tolerance level to be "significantly high." The food here is incredibly spicy, and after all of this time of consuming it my body has adjusted its own level to what it can handle in the Spice Department. Either that, or my taste buds have just been slowly melted down to bare, numb stubs that require a lot more kick to get them excited. Oh, they're still there - alive and well. It's just that they've reached "Veteran Status" and can handle way more than they ever could have before.

Korean dishes that before once sent me screaming for a cold wet towel to shove in my mouth are now responded with nothing more than a zesty smile and an enthushed appetite for more. Dakkalbi is the ultimate example. It was one of the first Korean dishes I ever had (actually I think it was the first, when I was on that "date" with that crazy horny Korean woman from my old school) and at that time it was the spiciest thing that I ever had that caused serious pain to my tongue. Now I love it, and can easily consume large quantities of it without grimacing at all.

Now that I love The Spice, I wonder how this will affect my eating of food when I get back home... With my new SuperManlyTongue will old favourites back home seem bland and boring? I hope not! ;-)