Shanghai, Shanghai

Monday, Aug 2 we met for the first time as the new staff with the administrators at the lobby of the school and they bused us to Shanghai, Shanghai for supper. It is in SoGo a Japanese department store about a half mile from our apt.

When we entered the restaurant there were table numbers and a seating chart of where we were suppose to sit. The tables sat 10 and we were with people we had not met yet. We met the associate principal of the Middle School, some Lower School teachers, and some Mandarin teachers. The Mandarin teachers are from Taiwan and were helpful explaining the items that we were served. It is cultural for one person to order all of the food for the table without consulting them about their preferences. It is also customary for one person to pay.

The table was round and had a lazy Susan in the middle to serve from. The first thing on the table was watermelon juice which was excellent. Next came appetizer dishes: deep fried shrimp covered in sweet mayonnaise, figs stuffed with sticky rice, shaved pork in gelatin, chicken on the bone (a leg of chicken sliced into small pieces with the bone still on it.), and some type of soup. They then served steamed green vegetables, sweet and sour fish and Gung Poa chicken (not pronounced Kung Pow). White rice was served only upon request.

Chopsticks, small tapered sticks, were the only eating utensils provided. It was amusing to watch people try to eat with these. I did not know before hand but there are several rules when using chopsticks:

Universal etiquette

1. Chopsticks should always be used in the right hand even if you are left handed. Avoids being elbowed.
2. Chopsticks are not used to make noise, to draw attention, or to gesticulate. Playing with chopsticks is considered bad mannered and vulgar.
3. Chopsticks are not used to move bowls or plates.
4. Chopsticks are not used to toy with one's food or with dishes in common.
5. Chopsticks are not used to pierce food. (stabbing food is a no-no)
6. Chopsticks should not be left standing vertically in a bowl of rice or other food. Any stick-like object pointed upward resembles the incense sticks that some Asians use as offerings to deceased family members; certain funerary rites designate offerings of food to the dead using standing chopsticks.

Taiwanese etiquette

• Food should not be transferred between chopsticks. Food in need of transportation should be placed onto the recipient's plate or on a new plate for collection.
• Using chopsticks like a knife and fork to cut soft foods into smaller portions for children is widely accepted.
• Chopsticks should not be planted on the rice such that they stand up. Chinese people think that it looks like incense stuck in the ash of a censer and are connected with 'death'.
• Chopsticks should not be rested on the table but rather on a provided chopstick rest or lying across the rice bowl in a sideways fashion. Alternatively, they can be placed flat on the bowl after finishing the eating.
• Chopsticks should not be bitten on, or linger in one's mouth for too long.

They then served one beer for the table.

Promptly there was an announcement that the buses were here and the meal was over. Custom dictates that once the host says the meal is over everyone says thank you and leaves quickly. No socializing, staying to chit chat, or staying to help with dishes and clean up.

We walked home which is very safe to do here at any hour of the day.