China eats

We have been running around the past few days looking for an apartment, going to schools (scholastic, also known as red-yellow-blue or RYB) and hospitals (CICAMS and the foreigner medical registration hospital out in bfe), and getting acclimated. The most interesting part has definitely been the food!  We have learned that our stomachs are stronger than we thought—even Adam’s!—and that neither of us is adventurous enough to try chicken feet, duck neck, oxen ear, or pig fallopian tube….yet.

On Friday night, we went out to dinner in Sarah’s new neighborhood, which is very, very Chinese. We were absolutely the only white people to be seen! In the restaurant, the host knew a few English words and that was about it. Luckily, most restaurants have pictures of the food, so we ordered according to what things looked like. We had 3 dishes (spicy tofu, garlic string beans, and chicken with an unidentifiable vegetable) and rice, but the waiter did not believe that this was enough. He tried and tried to have us order more because, as we learned, the standard is to have a variety of meats with contrasting flavors and a few vegetables.  We noticed this when the 4 girls at the table next to us got a second HUGE fish platter and several vegetables. The 3 of us just looked at each other in astonishment—these were small Chinese girls eating more than we had eaten all day! It was hilarious, and we then understood more of what the waiter meant. We have also learned that food in Beijing is known for its saltiness, and this place was no exception—we guzzled water when we got home!!

Our breakfast standard has been American—a zone bar or oatmeal in a mug with boiled water from the hotel room. It’s easier to just eat something quick and be done, especially because we will be eating Chinese food for the other 2 meals.  We stopped into a grocery store to look around on Thursday and saw lots of oatmeal and cereal—some Chinese, and some American, recognizable by Tony the Tiger or the Captain Crunch. It’s good to know we will be able to have a regular, low-key breakfast once we get into an apartment and go grocery shopping.

On Saturday for lunch, we went to a dumpling restaurant in an artsy neighborhood near one of the apartments we visited. Everything looked delicious and we weren’t worried because every restaurant has had pictures thus far….until now.  We knew we were going to get dumplings, which was good, but trying to tell them that Adam is allergic to shrimp was hilarious!  He wrote the phrase down, but his pronunciation is so off that the waitress had no idea what he was saying. She kept giggling and laughing and brought her friend to try and understand. Adam gave them the card, and they were absolutely lost. Then the waitress friend went through the menu and said stuff in Chinese—probably cow or pig or something—that we didn’t understand. Finally, the mutual phrase was Adam MOOing at her and giving the thumbs up sign!! In the middle of a restaurant in the middle of Beijing, Adam Lewkowitz mooed like a cow. It was awesome. The reward? 16 delicious soup dumplings! When you bite into the noodle, soup broth spills out. Yum!

We went to dinner on Saturday night with Adam’s fellowship friends in historic Beijing. Luckily, one of his friends, Ben, was born here, and he knew where to go and what to order. We had a wonderful array of mutton, an entire duck (head and all!), and assorted vegetables and noodles. Afterwards, Ben lead us to a 300-year-old “cheese shop” in one of the hutongs (an alley) that had a dessert yogurt, sort of like rice pudding. It was a great night of eating!

We’re off to go apartment hunting; hopefully we’ll be putting up pictures of our home in China next time!

**addendum: I'm having trouble loading pictures, so hopefully that will be fixed in the next few days. We also found an apartment this afternoon!!! More to come....