Waffles and the WuTan Clan
I have two Chinese roommates, Wu and Tan, collectively the WuTan Clan. They're both grad students who've been living in America for about 1 month.
Last night I came into the kitchen to find Tan making frozen waffles--for the first time apparently. I'm not really sure if he knew what waffles were. For one, it was night time. OK, weird, I thought but maybe he just wanted a snack. But he was cooking them in the oven! He opened the oven and used a pair of wooden chopsticks to pull them into his bowl.
Yes, his bowl.
"You know you're supposed to eat those with a plate right?" I asked.
"What?"
"Yeah, and you put syrup on those."
"S...Syrup...?" He clearly had no idea what I was talking about. I went into the pantry and showed him a bottle of Aunt Jemima's Original. "Here." I said and handed it to him. He hesitantly opened the top and dribbled a little bit onto the top waffle.
"Dear lord," I said and dragged a plate from the cabinet. I transferred the waffles and poured a generous amount of syrup. "Do you have a fork?"
"I can just use chopsticks." He mimicked picking up an entire waffle and putting it in his mouth.
"Don't be silly." I opened the cabinet and gave him one of my forks. "Here. Think of this as a valuable cultural lesson."
A few minutes later I was walking by Wu's room and I spotted them examining the plate, discussing the strange phenomenon of waffles.
"You know how to eat them, right?" I asked Tan. He speared an entire waffle on the end of the fork and put the end in his mouth. "Give me that." I said and took the fork, showing him how to cut a square out of one of the waffles. "Whoa!" they exclaimed when I picked up a neat little piece.
The next day Tan brought home a box of frozen pancakes and a bottle of Aunt Jemima's Original.
Last night I came into the kitchen to find Tan making frozen waffles--for the first time apparently. I'm not really sure if he knew what waffles were. For one, it was night time. OK, weird, I thought but maybe he just wanted a snack. But he was cooking them in the oven! He opened the oven and used a pair of wooden chopsticks to pull them into his bowl.
Yes, his bowl.
"You know you're supposed to eat those with a plate right?" I asked.
"What?"
"Yeah, and you put syrup on those."
"S...Syrup...?" He clearly had no idea what I was talking about. I went into the pantry and showed him a bottle of Aunt Jemima's Original. "Here." I said and handed it to him. He hesitantly opened the top and dribbled a little bit onto the top waffle.
"Dear lord," I said and dragged a plate from the cabinet. I transferred the waffles and poured a generous amount of syrup. "Do you have a fork?"
"I can just use chopsticks." He mimicked picking up an entire waffle and putting it in his mouth.
"Don't be silly." I opened the cabinet and gave him one of my forks. "Here. Think of this as a valuable cultural lesson."
A few minutes later I was walking by Wu's room and I spotted them examining the plate, discussing the strange phenomenon of waffles.
"You know how to eat them, right?" I asked Tan. He speared an entire waffle on the end of the fork and put the end in his mouth. "Give me that." I said and took the fork, showing him how to cut a square out of one of the waffles. "Whoa!" they exclaimed when I picked up a neat little piece.
The next day Tan brought home a box of frozen pancakes and a bottle of Aunt Jemima's Original.