Language barrier & cultural shock

I was working in a liquor store selling brandy, beer, wine , cigarettes at 6596 Federal Boulevard, Denver, Colorado.

I chose to work there so that I could find chance to climb the Rocky Mountains. As it was summer, a few days before American Independence day of 2006, the temperature nearly reached 3 digits ( 100 degrees Fahrenheit), beer got the biggest consumption. One day a middle-aged man, tall, tan-faced came in. He quickly browsed along all rows of coolers, picked two half-dozen-bottle packages of CORONA ( Mexican beer). He came up the cashier, said to me:" Hey, you guys get /je' lou/," his eyes glancing all around. " In front of you, sir" I replied. He looked bewildered, as I meant a yellow bottle of TWANG which is salt mixed with lemon in form of dry powder preferred by Mexicans to flavor their beer. The man repeated the word gesturing his hands into some shape like two blocks of something after putting down the packages on the counter. I stepped out leading him to a cooler, opened the glass door , took out a package of Yellow MILLER ( famous American beer). He laughed aloud, saying:" Sorry, I forgot the name, but you guys don't sell it" , his speech sounded completely American. Standing some steps from the counter, he pointed toward it, below ran the sign " Ice $2.3 bag", shouted" God damn it, there it is". It turned out the /'je lou/ or something is Ice in Spanish by its sound.

I met a new delivery truck driver for Miller beer ( we got deliveries from 3 distributors: Coors, Budweiser and Miller) , after moving in place some hundreds of boxes of beer from his huge truck, leaving doors locked . He came in so we would treat him with some sort of a drink, usually a pop ( soft drink). He stared at me:" hey, you guy look weird, where you're from?". "From Vietnam, you know where it is, gentleman?" Good, I gonna go to V N next year, what specialty you"d recommend me to eat in there, sir". I answered:" everything you have here in States, we do have in VN too: hamburger, KFC chicks, all sorts". He demanded:" I just want something I can never find anywhere else". So it flashed into my mind; " You must try CAY TO or THIT CHO when you're there man". " Sure, what the thing you mentioned is like? please!". I was serious then : " I am proud of my national , almost universal dish when I tell you this CAY TO is the great recipe of Dog meat." He was silent for a moment, then said, "I will sure try it", and took out his little phone book , had me write out the name. I told him he could find it every where, especially in Hanoi , the capital of Vietnam.