Kersten CP #6

On Friday, February 10, at 2:30 I met up with both my conversation partners Zhiji and Xiaoyu at Joy Luck Place, a delicious Chinese restaurant in Tallahassee. I also invited Jack and his conversation partner to join us, and my roommate who is Chinese as well and is from Wuhan. Once we all got a table, we sat down and introduced ourselves. Both of my conversation partners knew each other because they are both in the Statistics department. I thought it was funny because Jack’s conversation partner already knew Luo Yi because they were both in the Statistics department as well. We all decided to order food, and both my conversation partners ordered dishes that were more characteristically Chinese, while I ordered a dish that was more “American-Chinese food.” We talked about this cultural difference between America and Chinese regarding food preferences. In America, we like food that has more flavor and is saltier or sweeter. But in China, they like their flavors more subtle. Their salty and sweet dishes are more toned down. The only exception to this subtlety preference is their spicy food. I told them Americans like spicy food, but not to the same extent as the Chinese. Chinese spicy food is a lot more spicy, and both my conversation partners ordered spicy Chinese dishes. We all enjoyed our food and agreed to go to an American restaurant next time. This was a really fun and delicious meet up.