So the Chopstick Diet turned into the Chopstick Feast – and let me just tell you some of the things I feasted on! Fish-face, lotus root, chicken heart, duck head, and yes – duck tongue (not to mention the assortment of delectable goodies I could not identify throughout the month). Sometimes it is better to be naive and oblivious. I was fine eating the duck tongue until the Chinese man next to me told me what I was eating while it was in my mouth. And my first thought? I french-kissed a duck. Sweet…
Still, overall, the food was good; spicy, but good. I had by far the spiciest food I have ever eaten in my life, and the spiciest food offered on the planet according to National Geographic and The Travel Channel. There is also a special thing we like to call the “numbing ball” put into most of their spices which pretty much takes out your lips and the front of your mouth. All the better to swallow the spices with, I guess.
There are also some pretty spectacular Chinese customs which gave Team Judah and I a kick. One, the tendency to hawk loogies anywhere and everywhere at any time. Inside, outside, upscale places, the places we were staying, into a bush, onto your feet…pretty much anywhere was game. Apparently it is considered “healthy” to get it out of your system no matter where it goes. Smoking is also considered healthy. Most men do it, some of them perhaps on our beds in our hotel room while we were gone. Another hilarious and also more than slightly unsanitary custom – the potty training of Chinese babies. Not only was it not rare to see Chinese baby butt cheeks hanging out of the slit their parents made in their pants so they could squat anywhere, like the sidewalk, it was also not rare to see a parent holding a baby with sprinkler-action going on mid-air. You do not want to sit on the ground in China.
Sign we were very thankful for once we got back to Hong Kong
But I loved China. Here are some of the things I am thankful for (Happy late Thanksgiving!):
Humorous Chinese signs. This is supposed to be “Liquid Abandonment Place”.
Our hostel and pink blankets for the boys.
Traditional Chinese Dancing
Long Underwear
Carmelized apples at our favorite restaurant
Team Judah
Baby pandas
Street food!
Sword-fighting grandmas in silk pajamas
A Chinese man to whoop Aaron in ping-pong
Getting to hike The Great Wall in Beijing
Thank you for your support and your prayers! They are felt! I am seconds from boarding a plane to Kenya, and it seems like we will be in the bush so there is no telling when I will have internet access again. Keep me posted, and I’ll update again as soon as I get a chance!
