I was asked by Jiajing's mom to keep my calendar open for dinner Friday evening and after church on Sunday. I also discovered during dinner on Friday, when my cell phone rang, that I was supposed to be at another dinner with other friends. It seems a close friend of Luke and I had planned a get-to-gather as a going away party as he was finished with his schooling and would be leaving Wuhan. He set up this event on Facebook and expected that I would see the announcement there. I am not a big fan of Facebook and manage to open it about once each week. As a result I didn't see his invitation and didn't know about the event until he called and wondered where I was. If I had seen the invitation and accepted I would have found myself in a difficult situation, then having a conflict with this dinner, which was very important to Jiajing's parents that I be present.
There were four tables full of people that gathered at a restaurant; about 27 people. We sat at round tables with the food placed in the center on a lazy-Susan. Here in China, food is prepared in serial fashion where in America it is prepared in parallel. We cook our meal all at once and plan to serve it all at once. In China you start with one food and when it is ready it is served and the next prepared. Last night they were still bringing food to the tables as we were leaving. Except for the soup, which was served last, most of the extra food was taken as a carry out by certain individuals.
At each of these dinners I am introduced to something else that you can actually eat. I ate several things last night that I can't describe. It is a diet that would surely cure the overweight problem in America. I think many would almost starve before eating food the Chinese consider as very good. We are conditioned by our upbringing to what we consider good food. I find that the mind can actually override ones taste and determine that what actually does taste good doesn't. I watch Jiajing struggle with some American food and strongly refuse something I couldn't wait to eat.
I couldn't help notice how many were smoking and how important it is. If you are a man you are under pressure by your peers to smoke. At a function like this it is rare not to see a man not smoke or drink some form of alcohol. Very few women smoke or drink. The women usually have an orange drink instead. In America we are trying to stop smoking because of health issues. I don't think they realize yet, here in China, how much smoking will affect their health. I watched one man at my table smoke nearly a full pack during his meal. How I wish he could understand what he is doing to his health and stop. Smoking is sure becoming a large expense item for many people.
After dinner we went to look at a new home of one of those we had dinner with and as I looked at their kitchen I thought about the one I am building and have been reporting on and realized how different they were. Mine is several times bigger with much more storage and contains a different means of cooking and washing of dishes. I thought about this and also about how other parts of the house - a condo - were constructed and decided that I would comment on this later.
