Running back to my room, I put on another layer for the night and then went down to the fifth level, also known as reception desk area where I met my two international friends Xiaoxiao and Yina, and two teachers Kelly and Laurie who would be going to the hot pot with me. We started walking to this local hot pot in Shanghai. We started walking, talking about how long Xiaoxiao and Yina had lived in China, and if they had been to a local hot pot before. Xiaoxiao and Yina were both going to go home to their families for the duration of the time of China; however, wanted to celebrate the hot pot meal with us.
We finally got to the local hot pot, where we met up with another Chinese international student who was already there, and waiting doing origami. Kelly was amazed by the hot pot waiting area because there were snacks, games, origami, and a place to get your nails done all while you could wait for the hot pot. The moment we all sat down, we were called for hot pot. Now going into this I was not exactly quite sure what “hot pot” was. I thought maybe the pot was hot. So when we got to the booth like table we were seated. There was this hole in the middle of the table of where a pot would go. Xiaoxiao, Yina and the other international girl selected the meats and veggies to be brought out to the table, and if we wanted our flavors to be spicy, or not to spicy. We decided that we would have one spicy side and one calm, non spicy side. Additionally, we allowed the locals to select the food because they would have the best idea. Soon the staff came and brought us all aprons and apron type material to put over our coats which we immediately put on and over our coats. I thought that we were wearing the aprons just because we would be "cooking our food"; however, I soon realized why we needed the aprons, because hot pot was a messy meal! After the aprons were on, they came back and poured two types of water. The spicy and less spicy, separating them with a divider.
As we waited for our food to come out to cook, we went and got the sauces that we would like. These sauces would be the sauce that we would dip our meats and veggies into. I got my dish and did a little bit of hot and mild, adding some chill sauce for a little kick.
We went back to the table and soon the meats arrived. I did not exactly know what I was getting myself into when I did this. I saw this piece of meat that almost looked like an octopus, all crumpled up. It turns out it was cow neck. However, Yina told me that her mother told her, “You do in seven, out eight” as she took her chop sticks and the cow neck meat and dipped it in the spicy water. Laurie took a piece of the tofu and dipped it into the spicy water. As the night continued and we ate our way through the plates, we were soon brought a plate that we all looked at in confusion. Then Xiaoxiao informed the group how the meat was pig brain. Xiaoxiao took a large chunk of the pig brain and then passed the plate. Laurie looked at the pig brain saying “No thank you, that is okay” due to the fact that Laurie is a vegetarian. Kelly on the other hand took a little bit of the pig brain, eating it with no words. I was the last one to try the pig brain. Taking a little, and then going back for seconds because I enjoyed the taste of it.
The night of rare delicacies was over; however, we took a group photo to end the night, before getting taxies’ to go back to the ship. When getting back to the ship, I started laying a few things out for my upcoming field program Highlights of Beijing, and then I went to bed.
Julia, I loved my hot pot experience when I visited China!