Calligraphy, Tea, and Duck Intestine

One of the perks of staying with Jenna is getting to meet all of her Chinese friends. Jenna translates and I just smile a lot… similar to my experience in Hungary… hmm. Anyways, her friends have been so very sweet to Jenna as well as to me. On Monday we went to visit with her friend Summer, who runs an after school program with a few friends. We went to eat dinner and I got to meet all of the cutie little kids. They were amazed at how tall I am and my blue eyes and “yellow” hair.

I ate authentic home-cooked Chinese cuisine, and it was delicious. They kept putting things into my bowl, and I kept eating them. I subtly tried a chicken foot… but couldn’t actually eat any of it. I tried to bite into it, but it’s all cartilage and it just wasn’t going to happen for me. You can see one in the lower right hand corner of that picture. But I can say that I tried it. The three women in the back run the after school program, and Summer is on the right in the plaid.

Something special about Summer is that she is the only female calligraphy teacher in Cili. It’s typically a man’s art, and Jenna says that dates back to the olden times, when the ability to read and write was reserved for men in China, and women need not worry themselves with that because they have too many responsibilities in the house. (Cue my inner feminist to become angry.) But Summer has been fine tuning her art. and she is really talented. So of course I gave it a try. And it was really fun! I love doing art, and Summer took my hand in her hand and guided me through the calligraphy process. There is a rhyme and rhythm to every aspect of calligraphy, whether it is where you start the character, how hard you press on the brush, and even how many strokes you can make.

The student, eagerly awaiting her lesson. Haha.

The next day, we caught up with Summer again as well as Miss Dai, who runs a tea house in Cili. We spent 4 hours relaxing in the tea house with some of their friends and drinking large quanities of tea. They told me this is how real Chinese people do it in every day life, it wasn’t a formal tea ceremony, but rather a gathering of friends. I felt honored to be included.

This is Miss Dai, holding up our first pot of tea- Green tea! When brewed properly, the leaves change color from dark green to lighter green, as seen in the process happening here. The entire time, she patiently explained the tea process and how each brewing method was differnt for each tea, and Jenna kindly translated so I could also understand what was going on.

It was such a happy time, all the women were laughing, we were eating snacks and drink tea by the boatload. After the third round of tea it was officially snack time before the Oolong tea, because otherwise your blood sugar might get too low and you get “tea drunk” and start to feel loopy or dizzy. Jenna and I had been snacking on the grapes and sunflowers seeds that were conveniently set in front of us the entire time anyways, but I gladly snacked some more.

Miss Dai was very kind and sent me home with some tea and the coolest tea strainer I have ever seen. It’s carved out of a gourd with a little screen at the bottom. It was a charming afternoon.

For dinner, Jenna took me to eat Hot Pot! This is real China (as if other things have been fake China…) and it was such a cool meal.

So what happens is there is a big pot in the middle and underneath it is kind of a stove. You order the types of foods you want to put in it and then you eat it! The broth boils, so things cook magically. There is also a sauce bar, where you can put special sauces into your bowl to make it specific to your tasting without affecting the whole broth. We got half spicy broth and half non-spicy broth so I could taste the best of both worlds. The entire meal ends up being spicy though, and it’s as hot as lava, so we both starting sweating and my face got really red. I should have known when the restaurant brings you tissues for when your nose starts to run that it’s going to be a fun meal. In all seriousness, it was delicious. Jenna’s mantra: I will eat anything out of a hot pot.

My request to Jenna was that she order one weird thing that is good, but not to tell me until I finished eating it. In the end, I ended up eating duck intestine and honestly enjoying it.

That’s all for my “real” Chinese experiences, Jenna has been a great guide and I’m looking forward to diving in more in the coming days.

As a blurry bonus, here is a picture of me “learning” how to play this traditional Chinese instrument. Thanks for sticking around, and check back soon to hear about more adventures in China!