Culture Acquisition

Laura and I have been in China for over 19 months now. Culture acquisition has been a primary goal of ours since day 1. We've read books, developed friendships with locals who can be honest with us about our cultural blunders, and we've spent an abundant amount of time in the rural countryside soaking up every nugget of information we can gather. I can honestly say that I'm feeling quite comfortable in a city that was once completely foreign to me. But, there are some things about China that I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to. For example, Laura and I went to a hole-in-the-wall noodle place for lunch the other day. As we sat and waited for our meals at a little miniature size table, the women next to me got these delivered to her by the waiter. It still shocks me.

Neighborhood Cheek Graffiti

Recently James and I invited our neighbor, He Ya, and her friend over for dinner and a game of cards. We tried introducing her to Mexican food.  I made sour cream, fresh corn salsa, and chicken fajitas. We even busted out some of our imported cheddar cheese!  James did a great job of demonstrating how to wrap everything up in a neat little bundle.  Ya was hilarious.  She took one bite before everything fell apart and spent most of the meal pushing the contents of her fajita around her plate with chopsticks.

After supper we played a card game called "dou di zhu," or "fight the landlord." It's basically a Chinese version of Scum or President played with three people. Normally it's a drinking game where the losers take shots, but as that wasn't the direction we wanted to go with the evening, we opted out of the alcohol.  Still, Ya insisted there be some form of punishment for losing.  She asked me to go get my eyeliner.  This is what ensued.
 

It amazes me that an unenthusiastically received Mexican meal and eyeliner can be bridges into deeper relationships with our friends here.  It's laughter and life together and the random things that He uses to build friendships.