As I write this (in my journal), I am sitting in an airplane accelerating down a Dublin runway bound for London. I’ve just said goodbye to my family, and I’m off on my own in another country for the first time.
I have enjoyed having Dad, Mom, and laura with me in Ireland. I think they all had a good time as well (other than the cold and rain in the last few days). Laura’s a lot of fun to have around; she and I sing and tell each other how to say things in Spanish and Chinese. For example, I now know that in Spain, the proper way to greet a young lady is “Hola, chica bonita.” In turn, Laura now greets young Chinese women by saying “Ni hao. Wo gege hen shuai.”
Actually, beyond seeing sights like the Rock of Cashel; Newgrange (a tomb built before the pyramids and still intact), Trinity College and the Book of Kells, and the Jameson distillery, I have actually spoken more conversational Chinese than I have in quite a while.
Our first night in Dublin, we had been traveling all day and were absolutely famished. Unfortunately, most of the pubs we saw mysteriously did not serve food. So, when we say the tempting signs for a reasonably priced Chinese buffet, we ran in. The first thing we noticed upon entering was a large list of rules on the wall. First and foremost was the rule, “One plate per customer!” This rule even had subsections: “You must clear your plate before getting more food”; “Our waitresses are not allowed to throw away food. Please help them reduce waste and Eat Everything!”; etc. This language quite frightened us, so everyone got small portions. Good thing, too, because the food was terrible.
Dad had to ask for some sweet-and-sour sauce to go with the spring rolls. At first, the lady didn’t know what he was talking about, and started yelling, “You must pay! You must pay!” over and over. Dad got a little upset as well, but eventually received some soy sauce. The next event was our complete lack of tea. What is Chinese food without green tea? So, to show my family that I had actually learned soemthing at school, I told the waitres, “Women xiang he cha.” She said, “Cha ma? Lucha hao bu hao?” Turns out she is Korean, but studying Chinese, so she knew barely more than I do. I told her that green tea would be fine, so she brought out a kettle and a couple of cups. By a couple, I mean exactly two cups for four people. Eventually, we convinced them to give us two more cups and no more tea (when we first asked for two more cups, they thought we meant more tea).
After that, the meal went relatively smoothly until it was time to pay. Then, we discovered that they had charged us €12 ($16) for the tea; €3 per cup. First of all, what Chinese restaurant charges for tea? Secondly, why did they charge us for two empty cups? Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to debate it because we were late for the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl that we had scheduled. Suffice it to say, that was the worst Chinese meal I have ever eaten.
Also, this morning at the hotel, there was a Chinese lady at the front desk, so Dad told her I knew Chinese. I said, “Wo baba shuo tai duo le.” She laughed, and we talked for a little while; she immigrated to Ireland four years ago.
I think I’ll stop here, since we are about to land in London (it was a very short flight). Until next time…
