Final Meeting

            On Monday Terrence and I had our final meeting at a Chinese restaurant near campus. We met at the bookstore and he gave me directions to the restaurant. The whole way there he was asking me what kind of food I liked to eat and what my favorite meals were. It was obvious he was excited to show me this place because he hadn’t been that talkative the entire semester. Before we got to the restaurant he told me he had to ask me a question. He asked if it would be okay if he bought my lunch for me. He told me it was Chinese custom but that he didn’t want me to be embarrassed. I thought it was very nice that he offered and I told him he could.  

            We pulled up to a somewhat sketchy looking restaurant way down Berry Street that was named “Chinese Food”. Needless to say I was a little skeptical, but I was trying to be open-minded. As soon as we walked in Terrence went up to the counter and asked for the man who speaks Chinese. He told me that he could only order in Chinese. I told him what I wanted and he started talking to the man in Chinese and it took about 5 minutes for them to straighten out the order. When we sat down I asked what took him so long to order the food and he said he had to explain how he wanted it prepared. He told me he wanted it made the way they did it in China.

            Terrence told me about other restaurants he had been to near TCU that he liked and there weren’t many. He said he mostly just ordered from this Chinese place when he didn’t want to go to the BLUU. When our food came out I was surprised how much he had ordered. There were dumplings, vegetables, a plate of beef, rice, and the chicken that I ordered. The vegetables were interesting—it was some kind of lettuce in a sauce. When I asked him what it was he had to search the Chinese term for it in Google and translate it for me. It was Chinese cabbage. The beef he ordered was cooked but it was served cold. He kept encouraging me to try everything that he ordered so I did and it was surprisingly good.

            We didn’t talk much while we were eating, which was very different than the meals I usually have with my family or friends. It was interesting because I didn’t feel like it was appropriate for me to talk while he was eating. He was eating with chopsticks so he had to hover over the bowl and he hardly ever looked up unless he was taking a drink. Every time he did look up he asked if I had tried everything and liked it. He told me that in China it was customary to order a bunch of different plates and then share with everyone. He seemed annoyed that I only really wanted to eat the plate that I ordered.

            The food was different but I really enjoyed trying something new. When we said goodbye I found myself sad that I wasn’t going to get to meet with Terrence anymore. I told him that I would contact him next semester and that if he ever needed anything he could send me a text. Overall, I had a great experience meeting with him throughout the semester and I learned a lot about him and his culture.