A Little Bit of Home Away from Home

I am back in Strausbourg, France visiting Joy for my second travel week. The week so far has been pretty uneventful, just the way I like it. While life in Paderno is comparatively slower and more laid back than in the States, it's still nice to get away from the classes, projects, tests, homework, etc and just do absolutely nothing once in awhile with my girlfriend.

Last night we had planned on staying in and making some home-style burgers for dinner; unfortunately, the burgers, bread, and cheese had all molded over. Instead, we opted to dine at a Chinese restaurant near the city center. The interior decor reminded me much of my time in China two summers ago. When you first entered, you could hear the sound of water trickling from the minature stone waterfall into the koi pond. Numerous round tables made of dark wood filled the large room, and the bar area looked much like an ancient Chinese building. It was constructed with plastic yet realistic bamboo siding and the roof was made of what would be round, cylindrical clay tilings. The roof was then finished at the ends with circular tiles with dragons in the middle. The entire restaurant was dimly lit with candles on every table and smaller ceiling lights. The greatest thing to gaze at, however, was the golden dragon swirling above the largest table swirling around staring menacingly at the people eating underneath it. It looked as if it could detach itself from the ceiling at any minute and begin reaking havoc on the entire restaurant.

The food was delicious. It's been awhile since I've had good Chinese cooking, much like the stuff I get to eat back home. We ordered a beef, pork, and duck dish, along with some rice and fried noodles. Dessert consisted of espresso for Joy and some sweet lychees for myself. When he served us the dessert and coffee, the owner of the restaurant and I started conversing in Chinese. Our conversation lasted for about fifteen minutes, and we talked about everyday stuff like where we were from, what we were doing in France, and the like. I learned that he was originally from the Jiangxu province in China, went to Shangang for culinary school and ended up in Strasbourg after being invited by a friend to run the restaurant. It's nice to know that I can still have a full conversation in Chinese with little to no trouble in understanding. One thing I have always regretted is not consistently speaking Chinese with my parents when I was younger. When I started college I took Chinese up to the end of my sophomore year. This year I felt I didn't have the time to take it again, but hopefully I can pick it up again at some point.