The Beauty of a Fork: A Day in Wuhan
July 27, 2015
By Rachel
At breakfast, they had forks. I am not joking. There were
forks and knives all set out. I ate Chinese food with a fork. It may not sound
shocking, but it was crazy to me. However, I must say that I am adjusting to
using chopsticks. Some foods are easier to eat with chopsticks. Some foods are
awkward to stab with a fork. It felt weird to eat with a fork after eating with
chopsticks for so long. Taylor decided part way through breakfast that he wanted
to use chopsticks instead of his fork.
After breakfast, we were picked up by a student and taken to
Buddhist temple. None of us really wanted to burn the incense sticks they give
everyone when they walk in because both Christian and I have burned our fingers
with them. The temple had one area where there was dozens of golden Buddha
statues. Each statue was unique, with the figure taking a different pose,
making a different face, or doing a different activity. They were almost
life-like. It would have been much more enjoyable if it had been about 20
degrees cooler. Buddhist temples are mostly outside and the parts inside are
open air, so I about melted. Wuhan is the eighth hottest city in China. So it
gets very, very hot.
The Guiyuan Buddhist temple in Wuhan
It was lunchtime by the time we finished looking at the
temple, so the student showing us around asked us what we wanted to eat. She
asked us if we wanted to go to McDonald’s. But I am kind of sick of McDonald’s
because everyone in China seems to assume that sense we are American, we want
to eat McDonald’s. Christian does like it, so he or Taylor will sometimes even
ask to go there or to KFC. We have eaten McDonald’s multiple times for lunch as
a result, but I don’t even like McDonald’s in the U.S. I actually wanted to eat
Chinese food for lunch. So my mom asked if we could get dumplings or noodles or
rice for lunch, but that we were willing to eat whatever was easiest. The
student (who was very nice, but didn’t speak English super well) looked slightly
confused and then said we could get noodles for lunch. When we pulled up to the
restaurant, she told us that they had noodles. As we walked in, we realized
that she had taken us to a western restaurant that had spaghetti. So I ate with
a fork for lunch too. They also misunderstood when we tried to order smoothies
to drink and we ended up with a dish of ice cream each before lunch even
started - and nothing to drink.
After lunch, we met my dad and some more students at the
Yellow Crane tower and went on a tour. The original Yellow Crane tower was
built in 223A.D, but it has been rebuilt multiple different times. Our tour
guide was very good and taught me lots, but I had a hard time enjoying it much
when it was about a thousand degrees.
The Yellow Crane Tower – under construction
Following the Yellow Crane, we went on a boat across the
third longest river in the world – Yangtze River. Then we went for dinner. Our
host thought we would enjoy eating some Western food, so she had picked out a
western restaurant for us. Her son, Jerry, is six so Christian had a blast with
him. Jerry ordered his own food for dinner and ended up ordering a giant cube
of cake (well, they called it bread, but it looked like cake to me) to eat. I
about died laughing when they brought it to him. It was about eight inches in
every direction. And we all ate with forks because it was a western restaurant.
Sarah Ann and I on a boat crossing the Yangtze River
Christian rode with Jerry and a student on an electric bike
on the way back to our hotel. He loved it.
Christian, Jerry, and a graduate student on an electric bike
on the university campus
I honestly cannot believe that I had a fork at all three
meals today! I don’t remember the last time that happened.
I assume you eat soup and ice cream with a spoon? It sounds like you guys have eaten a lot of ice cream. So do they give you a spoon AND chopsticks? What if you need a knife to cut your meat (i.e., a pork chop or chicken breast)? Just wondering. Love Grandma Albrecht And I still miss you lots!
ReplyDeleteHi Raechel, Sarah Ann, Taylor & Christian,
ReplyDeleteI've been following your blog and have enjoyed every bit of it. In a way, it has reminded me of when I first lived overseas with my husband when he was in the Navy and all the adjustments of living overseas in a foreign country. You children are having a wonderful expetience of a life time. Enjoy it, as I'm sure you all are. My two questions to all 4 of you is 1). What one thing would you like to have from home if you could and 2). What food from home do you long for when you return? Please say "Hi" to Mom and Dad for me. Lorraine Winchel
Ooh the Yangtze river! How did it look? I think it must be a humid heat. I don't like mcdonalds either but all of our kids do. I suppose there are no minion toys with the happy meals. Becoming accustomed to chopsticks shows you have adjusted well!
ReplyDeleteThe heat sounds most unpleasant. Bakersfield gets warm on the summer, but it sounds warmer where you were. How do people cope? Do they carry around water spray bottles or fans?
ReplyDeleteOnce in 2007 when visiting Madrid, Spain i spent hours -days even- looking for a restaurant that served Mexican food. it was hopeless! I ended up going to a Cuban place that served black bean soup that was quite good