What did I just eat?

Michael and I have already been taking language lessons and we thought we were doing ok.  Well not so much.  Mandarin has many different tones and depending on which tone you use the same word could mean something different.  Our language instructor is awesome.  He has given us so much more than just teaching us the language.  And he was trying to prepare us with words that we would use on this trip.  Things about eating, drinking and how to bargain when we shop, but we have learned talking to our language instructor is much different than, let's say trying to talk to a waitress and order food in Nanjing. 

We have been trying to speak Mandarin or I should say Michael has been trying.  I am a bit more timid about using the language.  I need to build up my confidence.  I have cards with words that have the Mandarin translation on them so I have usually defaulted to finding the right card with the word or phrase I want to say and just pointing. ☺It works pretty good!  Michael has been brave and tries to speak, but people usually just have a confused look on their face.

Our first night in Nanjing, we ventured out to eat a random restaurant and they had pictures on the menu, but no Pinyin translation.  Pinyin is the Latin way to write out Chinese characters, so that we Americans can read them.  So we pointed to pictures, but the waitress was still asking questions.  Of course we had no idea what she was saying.  Then more people came over.  I think more waitresses and maybe the hostess came over trying to help out. They all thought Michael and I were quiet amusing.  They were smiling and laughing with us or at us☺but they were being very kind and patient. 

I was trying to order some beef and we know the word for beef and when I said it they would nod their head yes, so I hope that is what I ate.  Michael just pointed to a random dish.  He is a more adventurous eater than I.  He was not sure what he had...maybe some fish dish with noodles.  He liked it.  I thought it was a little fishy.  I tried ordering some asian vegtables by pointing to one of the pictures.  That took like 15 minutes.  I pointed to the picture on the page, I thought it looked like Chinese broccoli, but they kept asking me something and I was not sure what they wanted me to say.  But in the end that dish was amazing.  Just some green vegetables in a really nicely flavored sauce....yummy yummy. 

So despite our efforts to learn Mandarin in 4 weeks, it did not work out so much.  But in the end we got what we wanted...for the most part.  But we realize we really need to practice up on our Mandarin.  But we also realized that we are going to survive here in Nanjing and even though we may not always know exactly what we are eating when we order out in restaurants.  We are not going to starve. ☺ As Michael told me, "Just don't think about what you're eating and you'll be fine."

the veggies that I ordered that were AWESOME!

Michael's noodle dish that he loved!