The first time I tried my favorite food was in China. I got served something that the Americans have never heard of. The waiter served us some strange looking food. It had steam rising from the plate to the ceiling. I could tell they just came out of the cooking pan. My mom and I ordered some chinese tea, while my dad ordered a jumbo beer bottle. My parents started to dig in, but I on the other hand was worried what it was going to taste like, after all we were in a different country with different languages, food preferences, customs and clothing. I felt like I shouted out, “BINGO” and didn’t have the right numbers because I was embarrassed I wasn’t trying it. People were looking around the room, they saw I wasn’t eating, and immediately started to stare. I picked up the food with my chopsticks, and the smell of a football team in the locker room after playing a game wafted into my nose. “EWWW,” I thought, and I started to squirm in my seat. I started to stare at the food for a good 45 seconds. I then plugged my nose and started to inch my hand with the food on it towards my opened mouth.
    “Crunch. Crackle. Snap” the food sang. I opened my eyes, and my frown started to turn into a beam. It tasted like I just hit a grand slam. Without wasting any more time, my chopsticks flew around my plate as fast as my hands (and my bad chopsticks skills) allowed me too. The rich food swished back and forth in my mouth until I swallowed. I looked at my parents. They had beams on their faces too, with mouths as stuffed as chipmunks packing acorns preparing for winter.
     As if on cue, all three of us started to say, “MMMMMMM.” 
     The waiter came around the corner stomping toward us like a pack of wild dire wolves. “Would you like anything else?”
    “Yes,” my mom said, “Two teas for my daughter and me.” Then she turned to my dad, “Do you want anything?”
     “What the heck, we ARE on vacation after all,” he replied and ordered another jumbo chinese beer. We finished our delicious meal, thanked the restaurant owner and threw some yuan (chinese money) on the table, and made our way to through the hutongs (ancient chinese neighborhoods) back to our cozy hotel, The Orchid. I almost wished I was at school sitting in seat forr six and a half hours, then coming home to see my non-socializing family, my parents, two brothers 17 and 14, and two dogs. Even though I was assigned a TON of homework to do on my trip, I had a great time experiencing a different culture.