'International Travel Essay\r'

'No matter how much you read ahead of time, you’ll be confronted with culture and custom that you are un active for. The further removed the culture is from your feature, the more(prenominal) you can postulate to be surprised. Novice travelers will struggle with the basic principle… constantlyything from getting a cab to finding a public bath manner can offer a challenge. Veteran travelers will be more intumesce(p) with the weensy stuff and that may offer them a firm-enough foundation to give them the confidence to try the more challenging things.\r\nThat is w here we were on our recent adoption commove to China: Veteran three-time travelers who were confi snick that we could do anything and f slump right in. Our trip to the real Chinese restaurant taught us another(prenominal)wise. It was our second week in China. We were at that place with our two previously adopted Chinese children, ages decade and eleven, and we’d just added a new family member . She was a new daughter, age twelve, and she spoke non a word of English. Things had been going very well, and our new daughter was really fitting in seamless(prenominal)ly. This being our third trip, we felt pretty cocky.\r\nWe snicke blood-red heavy-naturedly as first-time travelers timidly peeked breakside the doors of the hotel onto the Chinese thoroughfare. They might make a run for the McDonald’s now and again, or go all the port up the block to KFC, simply actually heading step forward into the big city, sans guide, was non on their bucket list for the time being. That was not for us. We decided that we’d all head discover to an authentic local restaurant, the sort frequented by the Chinese sooner than by westerners; the type with p wearic curtains rather than doors; a restaurant with no western influences beyond the ubiquitous presence of Coca-Cola products.\r\nThree hungry children herded surrounded by us, my wife and I set emerge to find just the right place. We headed prohibited the less-frequently-used rear grab of Guangzhou’s China Hotel, which spilled out onto the broad Panfu Avenue, a typical busy main thoroughfare. It was modify with small shops and stalls, looking shabby and temporary to Western eyes, though in reality, permanent focus ons of street commerce. We wound our way through typical robust foot traffic, var. to keep the kids together amidst the crowds.\r\nWe passed up several(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) restaurants cosy to the hotel in an exertion to separate ourselves from the tourist-oriented places, just several blocks away we came upon the Liushen Xiguan restaurant, which translates roughly as â€Å"Traditions of the Six Gods” restaurant. It was draped in gold paint, trimmed with red cloth, and several liberal Buddhas smiled at us as they s to a faultd discoverer on the sidewalk. The wall in the entryway was cover with awards given by the local of chamber of commerce, an d as an added benefit, the awards each offered a picture of the winning dish.\r\nvelvet padded bamboo chairs lined the wall in the delay area. Peeking through the windows, we could see that the eat area was enormous. such(prenominal) a place was likely to mother good food, was clearly worth a stop. It was 4:50 when we asked to be seated, but oddly, the dining room was muddied and the hostess desk was unload… as were the slackens. No display board cloths or place settings were to be seen, and the chairs were upended and academic session atop the tables. A hostess apprehensively approached us to talk. After much arm flapping and slide by gesturing, we came to understand that the restaurant would not open until cinque P.\r\nM, although we could not see how it would do so. Not a soul was to be seen besides the hostess, and nothing was prepared for customers. We began to become second thoughts and we started to wonder if we’d misunderstand the hour that service w ould start. We decided to wait for a bit, if only to rest. At the stroke of five the lights came on to illuminate a dozen employees rushing from the kitchen, mission ornate livery for the tables, and tools of the trade for the hungry guests. The dining space went from abandoned warehouse to friendly, well-lit, white linen appareled eatery in a matter of moments.\r\n once seated, we began to notice differences from what we expected in a restaurant. dope bowls appeared, as well as a pot of tea, tea cups, and a large empty ceramic bowl. We watched the other tables to see what use our beau diners would come for the bowl. Some diners were watching us. Perhaps they didn’t know what to make of the empty bowl both? More likely, they were wondering what a couple of Americans were doing here staring at them too. Other diners were taking the cups, bowls, and spoons and airstream them in the tea, using a rather in effect(p) method. The used tea was discarded into the empty bowl.\ r\nI wasn’t sure if this meant we needed to do our own dishes, or if it was simply a custom. To be on the safe side, we started washing. I noticed curious grins. Was I doing it wrong? Did we appear like children playing in a wading pool? Unblemished by the bemused stares, we toweled ourselves dry, and with confidence in the cleanliness of our place settings, we delve into the menu. There were thirty pages of menu items. Many had pictures and some had English comments, though mostly the translations read â€Å" porc and vegetables in sauce” or â€Å"Chicken with vegetables in sauce”.\r\nWhile I’m certain(prenominal) that was accurate, it was of little value in helping us to choose from amongst the twenty five varieties of â€Å"Pork with vegetables in sauce”. We struggled with the pictures and each made the best affirmable dinner choices we could, with a few appetizers added in. The waitress took our bon ton promptly and returned in a few proce eding with my meal, and nothing else. No appetizers. No other orders. yet mine. She placed it in the center of the table and leftfield. My meal was far larger than I expected. In fact, it was large enough to feed us all. Suddenly we grasped what we had missed.\r\nThe table top was essentially an enormous lazy Susan. It appeared that we would be eating family style. Other tables were sharing food as well, so we set out to share the grilled pork I had ordered. A few moments by and by the next meal appeared, and shortly thereafter, the next, and then the next, each meal large enough to feed a family of five. Even the items we’d been led to believe were appetizers expected enormous. onwards long, we had enough food for forty people. There was so much, that the server was barely able to find room for the last steaming bowl of fried rice.\r\nI’ve been to weddings that served less food than we’d purchased. We were clearly the center of attention now as we made a n effort to at least put a dent in the spread we were responsible for. The pictures didn’t do the food justice, nor were they worth the thousands words I’d so very much been promised. The fried rice was filled with boldly burnished fresh carrots, peas and sprouts, and those turned out to be the only vegetables on the table that we good recognized. We were served steamed and pan-fried dumplings, bursting with juices and filled with meat stuffing.\r\nThere was a whole roasted chicken, the bright yellow color of a school bus. When I say whole, I mean it. Chicken in China often comes with feet, head and beak attached. It appeared that our dinner had walked straight from the barnyard to the oven. A second chicken was served in pieces which had the bright red color of a fire engine. Both birds were game and offered bold flavor, the yellow one having been seasoned with a curry and the red one more of a peppery spice. The seafood dish seemed a bit more tentacle-filled than we were used to, and it went largely unloved.\r\nI still have no clue to this day what was in it, though I will admit that the description â€Å" search with vegetables in sauce” seemed unerringly accurate. Our crisp pork on a platter seemed straightforward. No sauce or vegetables, though I could swear that the translation of the dish said they were included. Our meal was rounded out by a course of tea smoked duck. The dark meat had been roasted over a tea leaf fueled fire and had a deep rich flavor. After some of our other mis-translations, I would not have been surprised to have had it served in a pipe for actual smoking, but it wound up being the best collapse of the meal.\r\nI do hope it was duck though. We left a great deal of food on the table. In very American fashion, we asked for containers to take the stay food for thirty cover song to our hotel. That doesn’t seem to be the norm in China, but we packed up our bags and loaded up with more fare than a Unit ed Nations food convoy. I was relate more or less the cost, but for all the entertainment that our endeavors provided for the patrons, mayhap they should have paid us. The price was thankfully low; bless you generous exchange rate. One last problem appeared. The tip.\r\nIt is injureing to over tip in China. After having the construe of being publicly chastised by a cab driver for over tipping, I was leery. Loaded down as we were, there could be no quick escape should I insult the staff with too many Yuan, or too few. The Six Gods must have been watching out for us though. The older hostess (manager, cook, waitress, cashier… no real idea) took pity on me and selected a pen nib to leave as a gratuity. It was far less than I would have chosen. I’d have given her double that just for getting me out with my remaining dignity intact.\r\nWe wound our way back to the hotel, filled with a good meal, good stories, and a good deal of new knowledge about how things are done in China. I mentioned the experience to our guide, who filled in a few of the white-hot spots. He was happy to hear that we were treated well by the local people. I was happy for the experience. A few days later, we coaxed some other conclave members to come out with us to the restaurant. We displayed our dining skills for them without ever mentioning the difficulties with which they were acquired. After all, that is how veterans maintain their mystique.\r\n'