Dinner with a vegetarian

Jordana and Aaron were in town for the past few nights and last night we wanted to try hot pot. Everyone has talked about how great it is so we thought we would give it a shot. We went to a restaurant recommended by the front desk. It was right around the corner from the hotel and when we sat down at the table the entire menu was in Chinese. We tried to figure the menu out but had no clue what was going on so we left the restaurant.

Down the block there was a Korean bbq which we decided to go to. I had been there before and really liked it so I knew it was a good spot. We sat down and started looking through the menu. For those of you who don't know, Jordana is a vegetarian. This place was good for her because they had fish and lots of vegetables. We ordered a few things and then Jordana showed the waiter a piece of paper that said, " I am a vegetarian." The waiter nodded is his and went about his way.

In China they do not have many vegetarians....meat is a big thing. The first thing they threw on the grill was some fish and vegetables. After about 10 minutes they started putting meat on and Jordana stopped him saying she was a vegetarian. The guy gave us a look like she was crazy and stopped. They switched the grill and then we put the meat on. These people were so shocked to see someone not eat meat or not want anything that touched meat to touch her food.

The meal was great and rather entertaining. Aaron and I ordered a meat platter and the guy was cooking it up for us. Each thing was really good although we did not know what each piece of meat was. This one thing the guy put on we both ate and looked at each other and were like this is kind of chewy I don't like it. We asked the guy what it was and he sticks his tongue out. We ate frickin Ox Tongue. I can now add ox tongue to the intestines I ate the first week I was here.

The time that I spent with Aaron and Jordana was awesome. We went to the Summer Palace which was great and had a memorable dinner. It was nice having some family here for a few days.

I have exactly 7 days left here. I think I have 2 days left of work or maybe 3. They are really pulling my chain with when I end which is extremely annoying. I am planning on taking a bike tour of old Beijing at some point this week and finish some other last minute things in Beijing.....hard to believe its almost over.