Today my boss gave me my RMB 2000 prize money, so I attempted to ask my neighbors out to dinner. The wife has been making me dinner every day and - whenever possible - (s)mothering me to no end. Anyway, I figured taking them out for Italian food would be a good way to blow some of the money. As I expected, they said no (I get the sense that 19 is much younger in China than in the US). I think I even offended them by very indirectly suggesting that I wanted to eat something besides her food.
When I got home from work at about 6:30, both greeted me and told me she had made me "Italian noodles". This sounded pretty interesting, so I quickly sat down in their apartment. The dish had noodles that looked a lot like spaghetti, only they were mixed in a typical Chinese sauce with chunks of tomato, onion, and beef. It tasted nothing like spaghetti and was a little strange, but it was very cute.
Meals with my neighbors are always pretty funny: the husband, who only wears boxers at the table, usually just makes puns about me that I don't understand to the wife, who - even as I am shoveling food into my mouth - continuously insists that I "多吃一点“， “eat a little more". After every bite, in between her exhortations for me to eat more, she asks "How does it taste," and then - as if in agreement with my standard response, "good" - says "other places don't make X dish as well as I do." She has said that for every meal except for the spaghetti, which she has somehow decided that my mom can make better.
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Joe! I just found this (via your facebook, haha) and this post was hilarious. My mom totally does the asking if it's good and telling everyone to eat more and everything -- and she's lived in the states for over 20 years. Anyways, I hope you're doing well and it sounds like a lot of fun!
Haha, you're so funny!
Lily
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