restaurants

My first day in Qingdao was great. Surprisingly, my plan to avoid jet lag worked, and I adjusted to the 13 hour time difference with no problems. Bo picked me up from the airport and we took a 30-40 minute cab ride into the city. I was quite impressed as Bo spoke Mandarin with the cab driver, navigating him to our condo. He has really come along way with the language in the past 4 months.

After being in airports or on a plane for 36 hours, pretty much all I cared about was taking a long hot shower. If you know me, you know I am a germ-a-phobe (and I fully expect China to cure me of that), so sitting, sleeping, being in so many public spaces for so many hours in a row was giving me the heebie-jeebies.

Once I felt human again, I was ready for my introduction to downtown Qingdao and my first authentic Asian meal. Bo took me to a Korean place right around the corner from our building, and he showed me the ropes of dining in China. It was fun. They brought us a pot full of stuff I couldn’t identify. Then we stirred in a tasty red sauce. I didn’t ask too many questions, just tried to be brave. mmmm. Luckily, I am pretty good with chopsticks, but drinking hot beverages (usually tea) with every meal is going to take some getting used to.

Okay, I know it is sort of a cliche to post funny Chinese signs where they mess up the English translation, but I couldn’t resist posting this. (Notice the sign behind Bo. The circled part is the text that I magnified). Keep in mind that I had to stare at this “typo” all the while wondering what was actually in my bowl!

My friend, Hannah, was kind enough to send me a video of some of the shenanigans that went on during the 7 weeks that Bo and the FIU crew spent at Qingdao University. Hannah is shooting this mouth-watering footage, while the rest of the gang is cheering him on and encouraging this…uh…experiment? I think that is a good word for it since apparently no one even knew what was on the plate.

Notice all of the cameras flashing. The others were getting quite a kick out of watching someone else do this (you can hear Warsha saying, “go ahh” to show off the yuckiness). And I can’t understand why, but Bo seems to be enjoying himself.

Watch out Andrew Zimmern!!

Bo Eats Gnarly Food from Rebecca Dotson on Vimeo.

I’m sitting in my favorite restaurant, Lisa’s, after a long day at work. You’re going to find me here many times during the week, especially when I need a break from Chinese food. When I am here, I usually see Italians, French, Swiss, and other Americans. It’s rare to see Chinese here, but they do come sometimes. Right now, sitting in the booth on the other side of me are French Olympians and family. Actually, some Olympians from the Netherlands are walking in as I write (I hope a fight doesn’t break out.) So, we’re all here relaxing in front of the TV watching the French clean up in the women’s Judo Olympics. We’ll have to suffer through the fencing to get to the China vs. Angola basketball game. Go China! That’s a no-brainer, though. They’re good!

When I first got here, all of my meals were eaten at Chinese restaurants. There was a little dive right next to our university dorms where I ate nearly every day. I got the same thing nearly every time I went: the gung bao jiding, which in America we call kung pao chicken, and the dan chao fan, which is fried rice with eggs. It was delicious on the way down, but my stomach had to build up the tolerance, if you know what I mean.

At first, I thought it was very important to eat only Chinese food. If I was going to learn the Chinese language and culture, I felt it important to do what they do and eat how they eat. As far as the food, that moment has passed. I’m in the middle of a Chinese food hiatus. Gotta take a break!

Two sites that I’ve found very helpful in my search for “normal food” are www.myredstar.com and www.thatsqingdao.com. These are websites specifically for expats. They have lists of expat restaurants that have gotten me through the past few weeks. My favorite restaurants are The Diner (American) Lisa’s, Casani (Italian), La Villa (Italian), Bamboo (Tai food), La Tortillas (what do you think?), Pizza Hut, and KFC.

I read an article this week that said that you shouldn’t and mustn’t do what the Chinese do in order to understand the culture, because the Chinese expect you to be different. In other words, see it, don’t be it. Not sure if I agree, however. Let’s take Hollywood for example, you have talented stars like Daniel Day Lewis, Heath Ledger, and Liam Neeson who are referred to as method actors. These are actors who not only play a role, but completely submerge themselves into the embodiment of the role they’re playing for the purpose of a convincing performance.

Daniel Day Lewis, when shooting “Gangs of New York”, never quit playing his role – even when they were off-set. They would go out to eat or to a bar and Lewis would still be speaking in the accent of his character in the movie. These are very serious, skilled performers. They’re very good at what they do because they believe in order to truly understand your character, you must be the character.

So, do you think they would say the same thing about understanding contrasting cultures? A great question I’m still trying to find the answer to. But until I find it, it’s mostly expat restaurants for me.