Dinner Out

(the district in which the restaurant was located)

(Bolivian friend and his host family)

(Our good friend Gong Tengfei, the Brazilian, me, the Bolivian, the German, and our AFS coordinator Ms. Ma)

(Brazilian, me, a host sibling for a former Brazilian exchange student last year, Bolivian's host brother, Bolivian, Brazilian's host sister Zhao Zhao...we're good friends!, and the German)

~~~Sorry I haven't posted with pictures in a while! My house's internet was on the fritz! I could only post from the local internet cafe, but without pictures~~~

This evening was the going away party for our AFS Bolivian foreign exchange friend. He came with us to China through AFS but this past few months he has been having a rough time adjusting to the culture. He told me that he had expected China to be similar to America. The main reason why he wanted to come to China was because he wants to learn the language in order to get ahead in the manufacturing business. He comes from an affluent Bolivian family and his father owns 12 car battery factories in Japan. Apparently he wants to stay in that field.

But his expectations for China were too high. Almost every meal he had was out at a western restaurant (this is because he doesn't like Chinese food very much and supposedly his family doesn't cook very well). He is often frustrated by the language barrier, although he knows many Chinese words, his listening comprehension is poor and many people cannot understand his Mandarin.

Anyways! My Brazilian friend, his host sister, and I took a taxi to a more lively part of Chongqing where we were to have dinner at a famous Chinese restaurant. I don't know why, but Chinese people think chain restaurants are better. If a restaurant is a chain restaurant, it is printed somewhere on the table. Be it the napkins, plates, tissues, or table cloth!

It was a very nice restaurant! Many private rooms! Ours had a sofa, coffee table, and a television as well as a large round table for us to have dinner. On the table was a large glass lazy-susan with several cold dishes on top for appetizers.

The Bolivian's host family hosted the dinner, and they were a bit strange. I don't really know how to describe the parents but their son was annoying. All he could think about was how he was missing out on computer games, and every sentence had an English cuss word attached. I sat right next to him. It got old, fast.

The main dish was fried peppers with huge snails mixed in. I didn't eat the snails, they were too spicy and plus you had to crack their shell open. It was sort of messy and too tedious.

I was glad when it was over. I can't explain why, but the whole affair put me in a bad mood. Maybe it was culture shock from the snails...but I don't think so. The Bolivian's host mother couldn't get over the fact that I wasn't eating the main dish, no matter how many times I told her I didn't want it she wouldn't hear of it. Finally when I said "I'am sorry but I really do not like this dish. I don't want it," she caved in. However she kept mentioning to the other guests how I wasn't eating enough. Sometimes people should just let things go! :)

(note: I don't like to put the names of people who are in my day on the internet without their permission so I often refer to the name of their country)