As I've written about before, there were originally three Chinese and three Americans in my Spanish class. This has changed from week to week as people come and go, but there is still a core group of students in the class who have been there as long or longer than myself. One of the very quiet Chinese boys invited us over to his apartment for dinner on Sunday. He's super sweet, and it was impossible for us to say no - plus, he was very insistent about it, and followed up 18 times with each of us, both in person and via email or text.
We decided as a class to eat earlier than Standard Spanish Dinner Time, since none of us are actually Spanish. As such, we agreed to be at his apartment at 5:00 for dinner. When we got there, nothing had been cooked. There was raw meat and unprepared vegetables in the kitchen, as if they had just finished shopping for the party. The two Chinese girls, who had met the Chinese host only 7 weeks prior, spent the entire next three hours in the kitchen making dinner. We (the guests) were not allowed to help, and the host did not lift a single finger to help them. Literally, he had invited the other girls over just to cater his party - can you imagine? He would go check on them, and then shut the door to the kitchen and come sit awkwardly in silence with his guests.
When the girls finally finished cooking, they emerged from the kitchen with literally 10 different plates. It was phenomenal. I've never tasted food like that in my life, and is now completely clear to me that American Chinese food is as far from Chinese as Papa John's is from Italian. I mean seriously, it was amazing - I'm considering putting in a vote for an authentic Chinese food Thanksgiving this year.
Anyway, the most notable discomfort I experienced during our stay, was the behavior of my fellow American. Oh good grief. The girls had actually cooked 9 plates. The host came out of the kitchen, worried there wouldn't be enough food (even though there was enough to feed an army) and asked us if he should order duck. Everyone, except for my fellow American was like, "oh no, there's plenty, don't worry about it, etc." My fellow American? "That sounds good to me!" So no joke, our host got on the phone and ordered more food via Chinese Delivery. After that, when offered coke, the American inquired, "Was that diet I saw earlier in the kitchen?" - of course, the nuance of that questions wasn't fully understood by the other cultures at the table, but my skin was beginning to crawl.
After that, the American proceeded to eat serving upon serving upon serving of food. At one point, when we had run out of food, he began eying the unfinished soup of his neighbor. She offered him her soup, to which he responded "I couldn't possibly - I don't want to draw too much attention to myself." My response - and yes I said this out loud - "Too late."
Anyway, after dinner we all tried to help clean up, but for the most part were turned down. However, when the American offered to clean the table, our host (not as naive as one might have originally thought) proceeded to bring out a broom, a dust pan, a mop, and a bucked of water. I literally almost died of internal laughter. It was truly the icing on the cake.
All in all, it was an amazing meal. I have no idea how to express my thanks to the two girls who prepared the meal. It was truly out of this world.
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