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November 30, 2005
Occidental tourist
From Fairy Tale Soup, a Chinese cookbook by Theresa Liu.
It was odd enough to see a city dweller, let alone American tourists at a restaurant which served food in clay bowls, with seating on benches on the dirt floor in the Chung Ho village. This was simply not a touring section. In my opinion, these American couples were lost or on their own for some adventure.
"Are you like me, looking for something hot to eat?"
They apparently were pleased to hear someone who could converse with them in this strange place. Questions started to pour out about everything they smelled and saw. Their inquisitive minds and innocent enthusiasm made me want to provide them with as much information as I could, including some warnings. Based on my observations, these couples were probably the ones whom I would classify as American "occidental" tourists. Their intinerary was planned by circumstances. They were spontaneous, and they believed everything they saw was a unique experience.
"What do they say?" The wife pointed to the wall that posted red paper strips written in Chinese characters.
"They are the prices for each dish. For example, the one on the far end of the right wall says 'twice-cooked pork -- sixty dollars' (Taiwan currency)," I answered.
In Taiwan, small restaurants such as this didn't have menus. Customers had to look up and find the dishes and the cost from the "wallpapers". The waiter yelled back to the kitchen after taking an order from you. If you left one quarter for the tip, the waiter announced aloud, "one quarter for the tip" while he was cleaning your table. If you felt embarrassed about your budget tip and decided to tip more, the waiter announced: "Never mind! Two more quarters."
The couple wanted to hear more. I told a story about an American occidental tourist.
A middle-aged housewife found a tiny restaurant like this one that had all the menus written on the "wallpapers". She thought it was very interesting and copied one of them on a piece of paper. After she got back from the tour, she had a tee shirt imprinted with the Chinese characters. However, she did not know the meaning of the four characters written on her tee shirt until a Chinese gentleman told her on the street one day. It said: quality meat, low price.
Posted by joke du jour at November 30, 2005 06:32 PM
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