It's 2:00 am, you are sitting in front of the tv watching something you just downloaded off the net because despite having over 60 channels, none of them are in English, you get a sudden urge for some chicken feet. Sure, sure, you are saying Brett, those look just like the chicken feet I can get at the 7/11. Well looks can be deceiving. They may look like Canadian chicken feet but do not be fooled. The most obvious give away is the fact that there is not one iota of les langues des Francais on the box. Secondly, the chickens toes are not finely manicured. You can be sure these chicken feet have never seen the inside of a 7/11. So be aware of knock off munchies and read those labels closely.
If those snacks just aren't putting an end to the rumbling in your stomach, then it is time to head outside and find the nearest 24 hour gruel restaurant.
If you really have the munchies, then I suggest a big bowl of the "Gruel of the Day". Comes with endless breadsticks and an all you can eat salad bar. Sadly that may not end the rumbling in your stomach but a least the rumbling won't be because you are hungry.
Snacking in China can be an adventure where reading the labels is not always a sure thing. They have chips in over 20 interesting flavours. Meat (Barbecue I think). Fish ( A sort of funky smoked salmon flavour). Pickle (Dill). Tomato Sauce (Ketchup). Shrimp (Have't had the guts to try that one). All Dressed (All of the above with a hint of salt and vinegar). Bon appetit!
But if all else fails, I suggest you make friends with as many people from diverse cultural backgrounds as you can. Meet Solmez and Abbas. A lovely Iranian couple who are grad students here at HIT. For the last two years they have lived in a single room in the foreign students dormitory. Tired of living in one room, they decided to find a small affordable appartment near the campus for themselves. Something with more than one room and a real kitchen. Three weeks of looking and they found the perfect place with a kitchen Nonie would kill for. We convinced them that in North America, it was a tradition to invite all your friends over for a meal to celebrate the new home. They bought it and we were rewarded with a fabulous 8 course meal of Iranian food. Sadly we could not convince them that it was necessary to serve their friends a meal every week for the first year that they lived in their new place. We may have gotten a little greedy. Thanks Solmez and Abbas.
The weeks seem to be flying by. We are always busy but often have time to catch a nap in the afternoon after those long lunches. We are now half way into this semester. We finished our student presentations and plays this week. ZZZZZZZZ! Between Nonie and I we heard over 25o presentations and 20 or so delightful plays/dramas put on by the students. I have come to realize that the Chinese are closet hams. To finish the week, on Sunday we were asked to be guest judges at an English speech competition for first year students at the second campus. Thankfully it was the finals and we only had to listen to 9 competitors. The students also had to prepare a 2 minute talent show to accompany the speech portion. Could have done with out that.
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