That Was Informative

Today I had the pleasure of joining a bunch of workmates for lunch. We went to this crowded, noisy, local restaurant. Very Chinese. They didn't even have any English menus. So you know it's authentic (I imagine. How could I tell? The menus are in Chinese. These are the jokes, people.)

Lunch was fantastic. Obviously, I had no voice in ordering, but I trusted my compatriots to get good food. Just no intestine, please. I've been told several times that it's great, but I'm not sure I can do it. We'll see, though. But I'm not responsible if I hurl all over the table. If that ruins everyone's meal, I'm not taking the heat!

As I said, lunch was fantastic. And I like to think that I impressed everyone with my chopstick-fu. Of course, Dennis (whom, incidentally, was wearing a shirt almost identical to my own. And come to think of it, the pants were similar, too. Thank god we had different ties on or else everyone would have been speaking to me in Chinese, as it'd be like we're twins!) had to show off an take double the amount of noodle that I took, but that's ok. he practiced with marbles as a kid. Really, that's how he was taught to use chopsticks. I thought it would be enough to just, you know, eat with them. But apparrently I'm not a set of Chinese parents. Who am I to judge?

The thing that really had an impact on me, though, was that everyone at the table was just casually speaking Chinese. As we would expect they would. This was the first time I've ever really been in a group of folks and been totally unable to follow the conversation. And honestly, that was kind of something I was looking forward to on my trip. Back home, it's never the case that everyone else is speaking a totally foreign language, so I'm always able to follow along. I may not be interested in anything that's being said, but I can at least follow. This experience was great because it's such a different perspective.

So, now I know what all of my Chinese / Japanese friends are going through when we're in a group, and everyone is speaking English at full speed, using all of our idioms and quirky Boston phrases. I've always tried to be aware of that, but I'm very happy that I've been able to experience it from the other side. At one point, Dennis turned to me and asked how it was for me, with everyone speaking Chinese. I told him it was quite an experience.

It's one thing to be sitting in a restaurant by myself, while everyone around me speaks Chinese. But being in a group, yet not really a part of it in some way is pretty interesting. Hopefully, this will just help me be more understanding of my Chinese and Japanese friends, and maybe Ill show a little more consideration. Who am I kidding? Is it even possible for me to be more considerate? And if you want to hear someone speak fast, talk to my brother Mark. Jesus, does he go.