26th March


Checklist:
Eaten a chickens foot
Eaten a pigeons foot
Eaten cows stomach


When Sunny (my Mandarin tutor) told me in my last lesson, "I will cook us chicken feet for dinner" My response was of course "Yes, that would be great" Yet in my head I was dreading the thought! Tonight that dish was served…
A huge spread, cooked by Sunny's husband Leo, was placed infront of me. Green vegetables, delicious chicken and potato, beef, fish, bean sprouts, pigeon and mushrooms, stomach... Along with this was wine. When Sunny asked if I liked wine, I presumed she meant like Jacobs Creek, that kind of wine and so was happy to accept the offer. Ahh nooo, it tasted like Vodka! "
Ganbei" said as he clinked my shot glass. Ganbei, literally means 'dry the cup' Just as we say 'cheers' when toasting. However with 'cheers' we may sip the drink, 'ganbei' well, down the hatch! But when you except the ganbei tradition, there is no way of getting out!
First to try was the pigeon. I liked the meat but the skin on the leg was saggy and cold. I really didn't enjoy the skin, it tasted as if he was a scrawny pigeon who didn't have a good life! Moving down the leg to his ankle, foot and nails, all of this was to be eaten. 'Why am I munching of pigeon toes?' I thought to myself. It did seem pointless as it didn't have any taste, you just had to bit hard.
"Ganbei" number 5…
Next was the raw cow's stomach. A little chewy, but I surprisingly enjoyed it!
"Ganbei" number 8. Sunny said that you must drink 8, as it's seen as good luck (I think? At this point I was slowly loosing focus…) and so I was happy to of been polite. But somethingsomethingsomething and all of sudden it was 16 ganbei!
Unlike pigeon, with a chickens foot you don't eat the bone but the 'meat' around it. There wasn't much meat around each finger and again no taste. Usually chickens foot is cooked with spices, but Sunny knew my spice problem and so maybe it's nicer when flavoursome?
"Ganbei" number 12 or 14? I'd lost count and the bottle was empty. 'Phew' I thought. Nope! 2 more beers down the hatch and the usage of chopsticks gone out of the window, it was time to go home. Sat at the table I felt perfectly fine but upon standing up, oh my it hit me! Going down the stairs wasn't as easy as I had first walked up them early that night and walking well, Sunny had a good grip on my arm! I was wasted and so embarrassed! Luckily Sunny is cool and so my lesson on Monday I won't be too mortified to see her again.
All in all, it was my first dinner with a family in a Chinese home and I really enjoyed my night. Eating out all the time, I had actually forgotten how I enjoy to see someone cooking, see the process and smell the cooking taking place.



27th March


Eating dinner with Steven in the Muslim resturant, I asked the 'noodle boy' his name. Unfortunately the one time I don't take my bag, I find out interesting things and my notepad isn't to hand and so I've already forgotten his name, damn my memory! On some scrap paper the young girl had found, I wrote my Chinese name 杨雪 She couldn't believe it, me too that I had correctly remembered every stroke. When writing Chinese, it's not simply copying what you see, each stroke must go in order, someone could tell if the order was wrong.
They then asked about me having a baby. I pondered on the question and realised why they'd asked it, explaining that Steven was just my peng you (friend)
The mother said my Chinese was hen hao (very good) I felt so happy! It was the first time I'd properly used Mandarin and the feeling inside was un-real. I only know a little amount of Chinese but it was just my luck that all they asked I knew the answer or if not that many hand gestures and pointing was a success. I cannot wait to learn more now!
We sat for a little time after eating, watching a terrible but good Kung-fu film with the rest of the family. It felt like we were sat in the living room, enjoying dinner together.
"Bye Bye" Everyone waving and a cute smile from the young girl.

(: x x x