confession
the following happened two days ago at 12:10 in the afternoon:
i was visiting my phone lady friends to get a new phone card, and since it was around lunchtime (and it being the polite thing in china to always ask) they asked me if i had eaten. in my horrible chinese, i tried to tell them that i was on my way to go eat. they insisted that i sit down with them in the shop and eat with their family. i tried to politely decline over and over, but their persistance weakened me....so i sat down next to little willie, the son, and looked at the food they had already started. i looked at what i thought was a dried vegetable/pork dish that i typically love. to be polite, i said, "oh i like this food." that day, i learned to never say that statement BEFORE i try something. as soon as i said it, aunty started filling my rice bowl with the meat of the dish...4...5...6 pieces of meat. my chinese is so bad that i couldn't get her to stop, until finally i covered my bowl. i put the meat in between my chopsticks and as i lifted it up, she said "hen hao chi. zhe shi gou!" (which means, "this is very delicious. it's dog!") i thought...nooooooooooooo! this can't be dog! i've been able to go through 5 months of being in china, dodging the dog meat. i looked at it and felt a great sadness. there was no escaping it. i had to eat it. i tried to eat the other things first and distract their attention from the pile of dog in my bowl, my mind racing with what to do next. eventually, the dog was all that was left in that little rice bowl. so i picked it up again, and took a really small bite. they watched me. i ate more, and then more. i had to. the whole time, i kept telling myself, "pretend it's roast beef. it tastes like roast beef. pretend." and i ate my 6 pieces and was proud. then aunty stuck 2 more pieces in my bowl. ahhhhhhhh, it was awful. i felt like i was betraying every puppy being born in the world. they asked me if i liked it at the end, and all i could say was "mmmmmmmm."
in conclusion, i would like to apologize to the western world for this atrocity. (to ava especially, i'm sorry). i plan on never doing that again, unless of course i'm in another situation with people i adore that shove food in my face.
it really could be a whole lot worse i know. they've got intestines and brain and all kinds of things sittin around here. nope. nope. nope.
i love china!!!
i was visiting my phone lady friends to get a new phone card, and since it was around lunchtime (and it being the polite thing in china to always ask) they asked me if i had eaten. in my horrible chinese, i tried to tell them that i was on my way to go eat. they insisted that i sit down with them in the shop and eat with their family. i tried to politely decline over and over, but their persistance weakened me....so i sat down next to little willie, the son, and looked at the food they had already started. i looked at what i thought was a dried vegetable/pork dish that i typically love. to be polite, i said, "oh i like this food." that day, i learned to never say that statement BEFORE i try something. as soon as i said it, aunty started filling my rice bowl with the meat of the dish...4...5...6 pieces of meat. my chinese is so bad that i couldn't get her to stop, until finally i covered my bowl. i put the meat in between my chopsticks and as i lifted it up, she said "hen hao chi. zhe shi gou!" (which means, "this is very delicious. it's dog!") i thought...nooooooooooooo! this can't be dog! i've been able to go through 5 months of being in china, dodging the dog meat. i looked at it and felt a great sadness. there was no escaping it. i had to eat it. i tried to eat the other things first and distract their attention from the pile of dog in my bowl, my mind racing with what to do next. eventually, the dog was all that was left in that little rice bowl. so i picked it up again, and took a really small bite. they watched me. i ate more, and then more. i had to. the whole time, i kept telling myself, "pretend it's roast beef. it tastes like roast beef. pretend." and i ate my 6 pieces and was proud. then aunty stuck 2 more pieces in my bowl. ahhhhhhhh, it was awful. i felt like i was betraying every puppy being born in the world. they asked me if i liked it at the end, and all i could say was "mmmmmmmm."
in conclusion, i would like to apologize to the western world for this atrocity. (to ava especially, i'm sorry). i plan on never doing that again, unless of course i'm in another situation with people i adore that shove food in my face.
it really could be a whole lot worse i know. they've got intestines and brain and all kinds of things sittin around here. nope. nope. nope.
i love china!!!