Noodles for Long Life

There was a sauna feel to the restaurant. Lots of fish and Asian spices held in the air with the beer and laughter singing along to the harmony of the eventide. It was as the Chinese would say a “wanshang hao”- (good evening).

I was asked earlier that day if I would come to a dinner that might or might not happen with a few co-workers. When I arrived at work I learned the dinner was still on and that we would be eating hot pot.

Getting to the Restaurant:

I’m still not used to the big city life so if I take a step back and reflect on how I got to the restaurant that nightfall it’s funny. I still don’t have a working phone to navigate so I am blindly going to new places with child like faith in my new friends. I was guided/accompanied to the restaurant with three of my co-workers. We got on a bus and rode that 10 stops (which is about 30minutes) and then walked 15 minutes in the chilly fall weather. The weather was forgotten at moments by their awesome company and good conversation.

Arrival:

I was greeted by a familiar friend, my husband, at the restaurant. That was a sweet surprise. I thought he was going to be working and maybe showing up later. There were also more than a few people from the office It was a party! Both Kings English for Kids locations and all the employees were there. Our company had their own room in the restaurant with three circular family style tables full of many people around them. To the foreigners’ eye the tables were set for an asian medieval celebration; mini cauldron’s were set in front of each person with random dried spices laying in them. The waiters wore these cute Muslim looking hats and came around the tables with a huge kettle to fill our bowl and light them underneath.

My boss Mark gave an opening introduction to the evening explaining that our co-workers are our family. Click this link to watch some of the speech.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W96p_qzqWO0&feature=plcp] If you watched it please leave a comment (as simple as liked). It took two days to upload on the Chinese internet.

Spices:

We were then sent to go to the spice station where Denny and I were helped on selecting our spices. I heaped as many flavors as I could in my small cup size bowl. I learned quickly when I got to my table the spice bowl was for dipping my cooked food from the hot pot and not what I thought “putting into the hot pot”. Oops, let’s just say my eating in China looks like a 3 year old. Chop sticks, spills and splatter remnants on clothes from previous meals. (Don’t judge, noodles are tricky creatures; they slip speedily from the claws of my chop sticks and cannonball into my dish.)

Noodles:

I kept on learning new information throughout the night.There was so much food. The entire table was covered with dishes: lamb meat, shrimp, calves’ intestines, veggies, and fish. I learned that we were celebrating my boss, Mark’s, “21st birthday” a day before (No matter what country your in, all men every year are turning 21 after their 30th birthday). In China, instead of a restaurant giving you cake they give you noodles which represent that a person is to live a longer life by eating them.

Culture:

In China there is an unwritten rule as an employee you are to drink beer even if you don’t like it if your boss wants you too (fortunately for me I don’t fall under this rule). There are a few co-workers who fit in this category but the night was still altogether very festive. There was laughing, competitions, conversations, learning Mandarin, picture taking and happiness that filled this room. When a Chinese person says that “two people are going to chug a whole large beer bottle” what they really mean is that they will both drink until the other stops, which is about a quarter of the beer. =) There was so much laughter. Almost everyone had a smile painted on their face. The person in the room who didn’t would be the odd one. The party was an out-of-body experience. I’m not the party or drinking type and nor did I have to be, but I stood and soaked in the happiness of the Chinese cultural night.

This Chinese Muslim version of hot pot was excellent. After the festive night my husband and I realized that we had more co-workers that knew English than they let on. Apparently some alcohol helps them loosen up to speak English with no fear of messing up.