Shrimp Test

Yesterday, I was able to borrow the Chinese teacher from the class that has been closed. I was in dire need of a translator at the school staff health center and it was Chinese lesson time in my class. I'd forgotten I was told to take a Chinese speaker with me when I went to the staff health center. Thus, I showed up and the lady frowned at me while waiving her hand. I finally waived my hand back (Surely it means "I'll see you in a bit" right?) and left in search of help. 

Cecilia was oh so kind to help. I don't know if I'll ever feel comfortable with the tones and facial expressions here. I always think they're angry! When I asked her what the lady had said she simply relayed, "She just said to come back later and they will have a box of the medicine you asked for." Oh. Well that's nice.

Is it weird that not being able to read my Chinese
medicine seems entirely normal to me?

I still haven't figured out this whole cooking thing here. I'm giving myself until after October holiday, which is the first week of October. After all, who wants to figure out the grocery store, search for food, plan out meals, figure out how much to take home at once, go home, cook, eat, clean up....when I can simply head down my elevator and check out one of the many restaurants? Plus, I get fapiao (special government receipts I'll tell you about later) for eating out. I get fapiao for buying groceries too. I just like to give myself one more reason it's okay to keep eating out for the sake of sanity.

My stomach is not appreciating my logic even if my mind is enjoying a break!

So, even though I wanted to go straight home to bed, I asked Cecilia if she'd like to have dinner with me. Little did I know, she dreads going home to her packed household and was thrilled to have someone to go out with!

She took me to a restaurant that's very common in Chinese culture. This is where a culturally adept person would reiterate what they learned from their new Chinese friend and what kind of food it was. Instead, you get me and I can't remember. 

They gave us two burners and a menu with boxes to checkmark. After she marked a bunch of boxes, out came flavored water-like soup we were to bring to a boil then toss in whatever we wanted.

You guys, food just kept coming and coming and coming! When our waiter brought the bill and I saw the long list I wondered if he had given us the wrong bill! Cecilia declared: "Oh I always order too much! Tchafikah [my coworker and her English co-teacher] always tells me Chinese food is less expensive and I never agree. But it is because I order too much! This is why I can't save money." 

She is a hoot! We will have to have dinner more often. Except I told her I'll do the ordering next time. Which will be an entirely different sort of problem since they did not have an English menu. Stay tuned....

My word was there a LOT of food! 

I dared to eat a piece of shrimp. Using my chopsticks and fingers I ate it up. Cecilia laughed, telling me she had to give Tchafikah a lesson on how to eat shrimp with chopsticks and she needed to give me one too.

#1. Put the smooth side of the shrimp in your mouth.
#2. Bite off the head.
#3. Spit it out.
#4. Bite off the tail.
#5. Spit it out.
#6. Bite off the legs/spikes (what ARE they called?) 
#7. Spit it out.
#8. Just eat it!
#9. Spit out the shell.

This Westerner isn't used to my food looking back at me!

I watched her demonstrate but didn't have much hope for myself. 

Still, I gave it a gung-ho effort. After all, I've eaten with chopsticks for years!

I grabbed the shrimp with my chopsticks... 

I may have been playing with my food.

...raised it to my mouth......

.....and the slippery little sucker FLEW from utensils onto the floor. 

Oops.

The couple beside us did not seem amused. 

Who remembers the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts is fiddling with the escargot and one of them goes flying out of her hand? That was me. You all should be so proud. 

Cecilia highly encouraged me to take the leftovers home for practice.  

Once I am able to eat shrimp while only using chopsticks, I'll have aced my Shrimp Test. Who else wants to try?