Milestone Journeys | Our Stories A travel club for those on the best side of 50!

A Cultural Dining Experience by Lindy Rothenburger

I was once asked to relate my most memorable dining experience. Immediately my mind ran to a time that will never be matched by any other food event in my lifetime. To get a first hand view, let me take you to Beijing, China. We’re walking down Wangfujing Street – the central heart of Beijing. It is a long, wide street full of high end shops, two shopping malls, department stores, souvenir shops, and at night, a plethora of neon signs. Everything stays open late so we’ll just stroll down the street and soak up the local culture. On our travels, we stumble across a side alley containing a night market. What a treasure! The alley is L-shaped and comes to a complete dead end. Both sides are crammed with stalls offering Asian snack foods, souvenirs, fabrics, and Chinese wares – a bargain hunter’s delight! I have never been much of a shopper but I discover I love to shop in China. Much to my surprise, I enjoy the bartering. I come away with amazing deals while still giving a fair price to the vendors. It’s great fun. But I digress… The first stall inside the entrance to the night market alley is serving Asian snacks. There are sticks standing in jars with 5 or 6 scorpions and/or sea horses strung down each stick. They are still alive – we can see them moving. I’m totally grossed out! As we are about to move away from the stall a young Asian couple, in their late teens or early twenties, come up to the counter to place their order. They each pick out a stick which the vendor slips into the vat of hot oil. It only takes a couple of minutes before the young couple are ready to enjoy their meal. I stare in fixed fascination as this young man puts his stick into his mouth and pulls off one of the scorpions with his teeth!!!! Then as he chews it I can actually hear it crunch. I am repulsed beyond words but unable to pull myself away. I finally realize what culture shock is. Never being one who could hide her emotions, my face must be a kaleidoscope of horrified expressions as I watch these young people relish their treats. To break the spell, the young man comes up to me with a mischievous glint in his eye. Before I realize what he’s doing, he shakes his stick of scorpions right under my nose. I scurry backwards with my hands out in front of me, palms out to ward off danger, and screech, “Ooooohhhhhhhh, nnnnnnnoooooooo, nnnnnoooooooooo! “ I’m laughing, and screeching, and scurrying away all at the same time. My daughter-in-law is bent over with laughter and the young couple are thrilled with my reaction. Even you are laughing at me, I can hear you! The Asian kids each give me a hug and go their way. My daughter-in-law tells me this is the highlight of her whole trip to China. And I’m left feeling embarrassed that my reaction to watching what is obviously commonplace in China, and probably other parts of Asia, may have been offensive to this local couple who chose to deal with it in humor rather than insult. I realize I must be more careful about how I respond to the world around me as I travel to different cultures.