The day before we received Ai Rong (Gracie), we decided to eat at an authentic Chinese restaurant in China. I had no idea what to order since all the items were written in Chinese. I decided, hey I like chicken. I’ll have sesame chicken. I told the waiter I would like chicken and he replied, “Oh, we have no chicken,” (because of the bird flu) in his Chinese accent. I looked at my dad and he could tell I had no idea what to order. I also love fried shrimp. Ah! The shrimp with its cornbread crust over it. I knew that was what I wanted so I ordered fried shrimp.

As we waited for our food, the waiters came to our table and brought us hot water with something that looked like potpourri in it. We decided to give it a try. It really had no taste, just water with a hint of roses.

Finally our food came. I was so hungry! I looked at what the waiters brought me and I saw “shrimp with facial hair”! My “fried” shrimp didn’t have the yummy crust as it did back home. It came with the eyeballs, the feelers (as I called, facial hair), legs, body skeleton (the hard outer part of the shrimp) and tail. I looked at it and I had no idea how to eat it or what to do with it. Finally my dad, with all of his international travel, showed me how to make it edible. I was hesitant to eat it, but I dipped it into the sauce it came with and… I LOVED IT! It was different, yes, but it was great!

I learned that when you are in a new place don’t judge a book by its cover or “feelers”. Try something new if you are given the opportunity to travel to your sibling’s homeland. When you travel, you must realize the food is going to be different in their country then what we have here in the US.


Because I loved the shrimp so much, when my parents ask me what I want to eat, I reply jokingly, “Shrimp with facial hair!”