Chinese Food and The Chinese Birthday

 Hello again,

It’s kind of crazy to think that we’ve been here for over two weeks now. All of our teachers have arrived, and are working super hard. Jordan and I are proud of them. It took two weeks, but we are getting used to the school, the teaching schedule, and the city. One thing we are not getting used to is the food. More specifically: the cafeteria food.

Yes. The food is a real struggle. Jordan and I came here expecting to eat out only on the weekends. We were planning on being really good. Our plan was to make the best of every meal, and to always eat at the cafeteria during the week. That plan died a terrible death very quickly. We are struggling.

Lunch usually consists of rice, mystery meat,
and mystery veggies. All of it covered in oil and hot
peppers.

I don’t know why all Chinese people love chicken feet so much, but it needs to stop. All of the meat we are served at the cafeteria consists of spare parts of chicken, more specifically- chicken feet. All meat is mostly bone, with a little bit of edible meat. It gets very frustrating. Sadly, chicken feet and bones are on the menu about three times per week. Sometimes the cafeteria staff likes to surprise us with something even more surprising, like fish heads for lunch. So when people back home say, “Panda Express isn’t real Chinese food;” I will look them in the eye and say, “You’re right. Because Panda Express is good, and is made with actual cuts of meat.”

Chicken feet is a delicacy in China.
You will see chicken feet at EVERY market
and every restaurant.

I suppose that saying all of the food in our Chinese cafeteria is bad, is a bit of an exaggeration. Some of the meals are pretty decent. Breakfast is usually good. Breakfast here consists of a breakfast chow mein, with some form of rolls, and a hard-boiled egg. I could eat Chinese breakfast here every day and be completely content. Honestly. I’d love it.

Breakfast has easily become the most
important meal of the day.

Some of the lunches and dinners are also decent at the cafeteria. We’ve had a few surprises, like getting fried sweet potatoes, or steamed broccoli, but those are rare moments. Luckily, all lunches and dinners come with rice. So if we enter the cafeteria and see that the food is terrifying, we grab a bowl, and fill up with rice. It’s bland, but it’s food, and it’s not disgusting. I can deal with bland.

The rice at this school is served in a giant pot.
In order to put rice on your plate, you use the long shovel to scoop out rice,
then do a balancing act to get the rice onto your plate.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, though. Although the cafeteria food is gross, the rest of the food in China is pretty tasty. As an added bonus, the food in China is very cheap- so cheap that a heaping plate of noodles costs $2 (13 Yuan). Each time Jordan and I eat out, we spend roughly $5, which is awesome! We couldn’t eat that cheap at McDonalds in the US. So on days when the nasty cafeteria food is extra nasty, we’ve been able to run away and eat noodles and dumplings. We didn’t plan on eating out this much, but luckily we aren’t spending a fortune on food.

Still, there are days where you don’t want to eat rice, noodles, dumplings, or mystery meat. On these days, we have found sanctuary at a couple of tasty restaurants. Underneath our apartment building is a pizza place, which is delicious. Gina’s Pizza is a taste of home. As an added bonus, Gina gives the ILP teachers a 10% discount! This past week, we also discovered the joy of Julie’s Café. This place is honestly the best! Julie’s serves Mexican food, pizza, pasta, burgers, sandwiches, and milkshakes.

A cool side note about Julie’s Café: Julie is from China, and her boyfriend is from America. He moved to China to be with her, and opened an American restaurant for her.

We love this painting at Julie's Cafe.
It shows that he is American and she is Chinese
in such a tasteful way.

Knowing that I was missing Mexican food, Jordan took me to Julie’s Café for my birthday. It was the single greatest moment since arriving in China. Because I have an eternal love for burritos, I ordered a simple beef burrito. It wasn’t anything impressive to look at, but inside that tortilla was an explosion of delicious flavor. I’m not kidding when I say that I literally cried because my burrito was so good. I know that if I ate that burrito back at home, it wouldn’t be anything special, but in that moment, my burrito craving self thought that was the single greatest piece of food that I had ever tasted. On top of that, I drank an amazing chocolate milkshake. Julies Café is home! Sadly, Julie’s is a bit more expensive than the $2 noodles, so we will have to keep Julie’s for special occasions only. However, knowing that burritos are only a short walk from the school makes me incredibly happy.

This was the amazing burrito

Milkshakes of happiness

On top of the tasty American food for my birthday, I got another surprise… cake! Our adorable coordinators bought me a beautiful cake for my birthday. They were so proud of themselves for getting me a little cake. It was such a sweet gesture, and also yummy.

Chocolate cake complete with dragon fruit, strawberries, grapes,
kiwis, peaches, and melons.

Little treats, and trips to the noodle restaurant have really helped Jordan and I in our struggle with the school’s cafeteria! Overall though, China is a cool place! There’s a lot to see and do. The people are wonderful. The children are adorable and sweet. Sometimes the food is gross, but sometimes it is awesome. It’s all a part of this grand Chinese adventure that we are on!

-Madison & Jordan