Eating with Chopsticks………………and other culinary tales

One of the first things I did back in September was buy a package of chopsticks. Totally unnecessary, as they are practically FREE everywhere you go. Look how many are left in the bag after ten months…….

I promised myself to be a better chopstick user, but I'm afraid after all these months, I am still a little awkward with them. I get the food to my mouth - I have not starved, but my younger students would peak into the Canteen where the teachers eat and then make fun of me when I saw them in class.
The worst time I had was when I had a cast on my right arm. Remember? I do. It is forever burned into my brain………

After each lunch, I would have to torn my right arm down and shake out all the rice and food bits that fell into the gap between the cast and my hand. Disgusting……

During my stay here, I have been given chopsticks for salad- which is not too bad, really. But when the greens are torn into huge pieces, it is not a pretty sight. Salad dressing smeared all over my mouth and all manner of vegetables dropping back onto my plate as I chew smaller pieces. There are NO salad options at McDonald's, potato salad only at KFC and only three salad options at Pizza Hut. It is not a popular food dish here. So, of course, when I order, the Chinese patrons in the restaurant are quite curious about how to eat it with chop sticks.

This little salad is quite manageable, but at my favourite local restaurant - which has awesome Caesar  and Seafood salads, the chunks of lettuce are HUGE. I have learned to bring my own fork and Knife - they see me coming - they know what I want……

I was also given a plate of two fried  (soft sunny side up) eggs - two tomato slices on the side - with a pair of chopsticks. This was very difficult and I was starving….

 If they had had greens underneath- like in the photo, it would have been easy to soak up the yolk with the greens.
But it looked like this:

Dale told me that Chinese people tip the plate and pour the remains into their mouths.

So when I was eating out with Dale yesterday, it was with some (twisted) pleasure, that I watched Shanghai-nese negotiate the forks and knives at Pizza Hut.

These are not my photos- I hate to be invasive- ( although being "invasive" is the norm here)- but this is some of what I've seen:

I read a book by a British student who "ate her way" across China and learned to cook-thanks Dawn- it was awesome- and when she returned to England She slurped and grunted her way through noodles and soups.

This way of eating has not changed. The Canteen  was a very noisy place to eat lunch. One of my many experiences with "culture shock" when I sat down with my refined, British-accented English-speaking Chinese colleagues back  in September. I watched  their bent heads, slurping and grunting and spitting out pork bones and fish bones.
Afraid to choke, I often picked the fish bones out of my mouth with my fingers. I now know they must have thought I was a very dirty person for putting my hands close to and into my mouth.