New Year's Update

Hi friends!
Well, many of you have heard some about our sweet New Year's weekend. What you didn't hear about, however, is the food! I would like to say at the outset that the overarching theme of each of these meals was the kindness, generosity and hospitality of our hosts. Our tutor told us that East Asians aren't as used to expressing their feelings of love and affection through words, so they use food. I would also like to say that none of the things I describe that are different than what we would typically eat are 'wrong' for someone to eat or to be said in any spirit of mockery or putting down. We love that they eat things that are different than us! We really want to share to give you a picture of some of the foods here, and the (sometimes humorous) experiences you can stumble into as a Westerner :) So let me see what I can remember...and the award goes to...

Lunch on New Year's Eve Day
We had lunch at a nice restaurant along with many other people (there were two large round tables full)

Healthiest:
Rolled up lettuce, dipped in (a very little amount of) peanut sauce

Our favorites:
Dave: Peppered beef
Morgan: peanuts in soy sauce/vinegar

Most important English usage:
One dish that the first time around, I was told was "jelly." The second time around, I was told that it was, actually, "jelly fish."

Biggest "all eyes on me" moment:
When Dave was urged to put vinegar in his Sprite, and drink it. He did, and wasn't the biggest fan... he discreetly asked for a new glass a few minutes later.

Least healthy/most intimidating:
A 2 x 2 x 2 inch cube of pork fat.

Biggest cultural difference:
That no one even batted an eye at the mention of one of the dishes being a "fungus."

Ate the most of:
Dave: peppered beef
Morgan: slices of watermelon; peanuts

New Year's Eve
Dinner was lighter because it's healthier to eat less at night than in the middle of the day. Mostly leftovers and dumplings in soup. Super tasty, and we even made the dumplings ourselves!

Biggest take-home lesson learned:
One, learning how to make my own little dumplings! And that kids love 'em
Two, the creative usage and presentation of leftovers. The moms took the leftovers and cooked them with other veggies, etc, and created new dishes!

Funniest food moment of the night:
On the table was a serving bowl of a whitish soup with white balls that had some sort of dark substance in the middle. As the hostess and to show love, our tutor's mom reached for my bowl (we all had a bowl to put our food in for dinner) and began to scoop this slightly intimating soup into my bowl. Scoop, scoop, scoop until my bowl was totally full. Dave, in the meantime, was formulating a plan for when his turn came to be served, to after a few scoops were served to politely say that that was enough. After our tutor's mom filled my bowl, however, she handed Dave the serving bowl!

Most American-like East Asian food:
In general, the food here is very different (and yummier) than it's representative in America. However, for New Year's Eve it is a tradition to have spring rolls. Yum!

Dinner on New Year's Day
(for four people, dear Chen Ayi cooked SO MUCH food! And it was pretty much all not intimidating, and all super yummy)

Favorites:
Dave: fried homemade beef dumplings
Morgan: probably the same! but for the sake of interest, I'll say the lamb. Marinaded in some sort of really good sauce...


Most reminiscent of an American barbecue:
Chopped potatoes, apples and sausage in mayonnaise, almost like potato salad.

Most intimidating: 
Some sort of egg...boiled... greyish-black in color, potentially duck egg? Those are very popular here.

Biggest mistake:
Eating too many pistachios and sunflower seeds before hand- we got full really easily!