HOT POT!

Eating Hot Pot for our first time. With our little bit of Mandarin (the extent of it being ni hao and wo jiao) we attempted to order food not knowing any of the characters. We thought we ordered something.  Like beef maybe? And then the oil came. Beef lard oil. So we were on the right track - we got beef something at least! And so we waited for our meats to come that we you are suppose to cook in the oil. Ten minutes past. Then twenty. Finally, a very nice Chinese boy from a table next to us took pity on us and asked, "Do you need help?" We adamantly said "YES! Please help us!!" He asked us what we wanted. Since we did not really know what our options were, he said he would order us the specialities, which consisted of tongue, liver, heart, stomach and lower intestine. Brain was an option too, but we opted out of that one. Honestly, the intestine was awesome and so was the heart. Or at least I think it was heart. The tongue - not so much. It was kind of chewy and hairy. But, overall I have been thoroughly impressed by the food here. Sichuan food is amazing. Quite spicy (note the billion red peppers in the hot pot), but amazing! 


And the food isn't the only amazing part. The people are insanely friendly. They are so happy and helpful. This is not something you see or experience in many places in the world. I just moved in with my host family and they too are so hospitable, giving and loving. 

China = Love