Airport Arrival
It has been a busy two weeks. I’d like to say I have been jet setting around the country promoting Magestic Dreams but that isn’t true. A sweet sixteen birthday party for my daughter, a visit from my nephews from Florida, packing my son for a year-long trip to Japan, the arrival of our foreign exchange student from China, the first day of school, and preparing for a Sayanara Party for my son which includes a visit from out-of-town family is my only excuse for not posting last week.
I must apologize for my lack of creativity this week but before you whip me with a wet noodle, let me explain a noodle. Though noodles are a staple of Chinese cooking (along with a truckload of rice), it is difficult to translate. This is what a noodle looks like in Chinese: 面条. And this is me, explaining pasta to our exchange student, Shunshun, in our first restaurant experience.
Shunshun: “What is pasta?”
Me: “Noodles.”
Shunshun: “What is noodle?”
Me: “A thin strip of pasta.”
As you can see by the above example, I lack the necessary skills to describe food choices. So, in an attempt to simplify the decision process, I suggested she try my daughter’s favorite—chicken fingers. A look of horror and confusion came across her face and it took me a few seconds to explain that chickens don’t really have fingers and we don’t really eat them. I tried to describe breaded and fried to no avail and so, we settled on a grilled chicken breast with rice pilaf and a side of mac and cheese. She devoured the breast and rice but much to my disappointment, the mac and cheese didn’t pass the test.
This morning, I made a sack lunch for my daughter and Shunshun. Prior to making the traditional peanut butter sandwich, I gave her a tiny taste. The sticky texture might have freaked her out a little bit. She walked around the kitchen with her hand over her mouth, smiling as she tried to swallow.
“Is good,” she finally said.
“You don’t have to like it,” I said laughing.
She laughed with me and replied, “No really, is good.” So, I packed her a PB&J sandwich, a handful of fruit, cheetos (my sense of humor), and trail mix, none of which she has ever tasted (except the fruit).
We knew there would be a language barrier, but we didn’t realize it would come down to words like flush, shampoo, shower, and panties. Figuring out a way to describe our everyday words can turn your brain into jello. Jello is a gelatin that jiggles and comes in flavors like orange and lime. Orange is a fruit that you peel and eat, or squeeze and drink.
Karen Householder
Savannah Householder
Karen Householder 
Can’t wait to meet her !
Gayle, I guess that means a visit?
I really have to meet Shunshun! She sounds like fun. 🙂
I live off of noodles and to be honest I could never successfully explain them… It would go something like this:
Me: Noodles are amazing!
Other person (who has never lived considering that they have lacked noodles all their life): What are these “noodles” you speak of?
Me: Heavenly yumminess that I should probably eat less of!
Other person: ?
Me: Pasta.
O.p.: I have no idea what you are talking about? Is is green?
Me: :O Of all that is holy, how dare you, you sacrilegious person! You are not worthy of noodles!
(I could continue, but I firmly believe that you get the gist of where I’m coming from.)
❤ chicken fingers! Noodles and chicken fingers… I always get one or the other when we go out to eat. Why I continue to actually look at the menu is beyond me.
Your mac and cheese is inspirational! (Always have been an ego-stroker. :P)
It would be fun to work around that troublesome (yet interesting and entertaining) language barrier…
Tell Shunshun and Savannah "Hi" and keep on making your mac and cheese! Don't let words get to you! 😛
-Helen
Helen, you crack me up! I love pasta, too. Problem is, I don’t know when to stop. And as far as chicken fingers goes, Savannah always orders the same. So much so that we have stopped letting her choose the restaurants because we already know what she will order. I have been impressed though, Shunshun has tasted everything we have put in front of her so maybe there is a cheeseburger in her very near future!
I’m glad that I make you laugh. 🙂 I believe it’s a good thing to be able to make people laugh in general.
Great story! But of course you are so good at telling them 🙂 Great picture of the kids. And believe it or not, (which my kids still can’t believe), I didn’t like mac and cheese when I was a kid…weird I know. However, love it now.
Well, you know Julia, mac and cheese is a staple with our girls. Guess I will have to learn how to cook??