Fun dumb foreigner story

In the teachers' lounge at one of the schools where my interns and I volunteer there is often a plate of sweets sitting out. If someone has a birthday that person brings cake to share with everyone so they can celebrate their birthday. (Yes, quite different from America.) The other day there were 2 empty plates that had obviously had cake on them and one full plate with something white kind of cut into bars. Looked like maybe bars of white chocolate to Hannah (intern) so she asked if she could try it. I told her to get a piece but that she was not allowed to make that awful face she makes when she doesn't like something. (She is 21, but makes a 3-year-old ugly face when she doesn't like something.) So she put it in her mouth and immediately started making the face. I spoke very sternly to her and told her not to offend anyone and to smile and swallow it whether she liked it or not. She was going on so badly that I finally had to try it myself. It couldn't possibly be as bad as the face she was making. I took a pinch and put it into my mouth. It was dis.gust.ing but I smiled and got it down and told her to inconspicuously throw away the rest. I left school a bit later and she called laughing hysterically. She said, "Christy, I just found out from a teacher what that was that we ate. IT WAS HOMEMADE SOAP!!!" The teachers about died laughing at us when they found out we had eaten some!
So, if you ever come to visit me and I tell you to smile and swallow something you've eaten, you may want to think twice.