Me & Tina ... She's wonderful & I heart her:
As ignorant as it sounds I'll admit that I know very little about the Chinese New Year. And the things that I do know are only things that I think I know. Like, I think the celebration lasts for a long time. Maybe 15 days? I'm still not quite sure why we were celebrating 'Chinese New Year's Eve' on January 25th, but whatever. :) I really do know a little about the Chinese astrological calendar, but I mostly learned about it from the random Chinese restaurant that I frequented. You know, the cool place mats with the 12 year cycle of animals that you had to match your birth year to and in doing so you would make personality discoveries and determine future compatibility I'm pretty sure it was at that old Chinese restaurant on highway 75 that we used to go to every Sunday when I was like 8 where I learned that I was a 'dog' and therefore unpretentious, straightforward, honest, practical , generous and yet fair. I also learned that I am most compatible with horses or tigers and should steer clear of the roosters and dragons. I also remember something about being 80% compatible with the monkey. Maybe that was a recent search. Regardless, 80% is a pretty solid number. :)
I've been to Chinese festivals in Kobe, shopped in Chinatown in Sydney, slept in Chinatown (or what we thought was Chinatown) in LA, and I'm actually going to China in May. Maybe it would be worth the effort to learn a little more about the actual traditional Chinese culture as opposed to the Americanized version of Almond Chicken and kanji tattoos. I figured I could pick up a thing or two at this Chinese New Years party. Although, let the truth be told, I was most excited about the food.
Here's what we knew we were in for at almost $60 a plate (and let me tell you, it's nothing you would would find on the dinner menu at Hong Kong in Cedar Falls) ...
Appetizer (way to be vague)
Three types of dim sum (dim sum huh?)
Shark fin soup (is it politically correct to eat shark?)
Steamed fresh Aomori scallops
Stir-fried ginger crabs
Stir-fried seafood in XO sauce (XO? as in the letters X and O, or as in some Chinese word I can't pronounce?)
Prawns in Sichuan sauce
Chinese Zongzi (what the heck is a Zongzi?)
Peach manju
Dessert (I don't think I've ever had dessert at a Chinese restaurant ... I was intrigued)
The appetizer ... I still wasn't exactly sure what it was even after I got to see it.
MOST of it tasted pretty good. :)
Kevin, Ima & TJ ... and the dim sum was in that bamboo looking thing.
I was highly anticipating the shark soup. I was kind of opposed to eating shark until I realized that it was actually really good. :) I later learned that apparently shark is a delicacy that only 'rich people' eat. Good one. We all know how rich I am. HA.
Scallops ... 
Crabs ... Lots and lots of crabs.
Shrimp that made my mouth hot ...
Some vegetables in noodle bowls ... Seriously, what was that? Besides good.
The dessert that kind of reminded me of eating milk, sugar & rice, which I love.
Some of my favorites ... Erik, Kevin, Ima & Taylor: 
For those who still think I'm the only foreign person in my city ... here's a picture of half of our group. That means at least 20 other foreign people that live in Okayama (and speak English!). I'm not alone.
For those who still think I'm the only foreign person in my city ... here's a picture of half of our group. That means at least 20 other foreign people that live in Okayama (and speak English!). I'm not alone. STOP WORRYING!! :)
And then we had a Chinese lesson compliments of Serene, Yan and Cindy ...
Chinese makes Japanese look like a cake walk. Mandarin, Cantonese, difficult. Xsunsx. That means something in Chinese (probably) and I can't pronounce it to save my life. I better get working though ... I leave for China in less than 2 months!!! やった！！
Our friendly group waiting for the train to take us back to 岡山.
Yes, that's TJ in the middle. :)
much love
-tara-
xx
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