Probably the most uncomfortable thing to do is to take 3 guys from China out to lunch at a Mid-West Chinese restaurant. Here it's called Chinese Food (and americanized, at that). Over there, it's food. And probably a lot better than the stuff here.
First was the interaction with the waitress. She had an accent that indicated English was not her first language. When these guys started talking in Chinese (Mandarin, I think), she made it obvious that Chinese was not her first.
It took them a while to get through the menu. They didn't recognize immesiately that words like "Moo Shu" were the englishization of the Chinese characters that make up "Moo Shu."
After that, it was a pretty good lunch full of small talk and random topics that probably took up most of their non-engineering vocaulary. The highlight of the meal, however...
"I haven't had Chinese food in so long! It's been, like, 3 or 4 days!"
Hilarity ensued.
Posted by Austin at October 21, 2005 10:05 PM