Home is Where the Food Is

A few weeks back, a local friend of ours, Jacky, invited us over to his home to join in on a traditional Chinese feast of foods. Upon arrival, we got the grand tour of his new apartment, were treated to teas/beers, and lookedat engagement photos of he and Zhou (his fiance)...which by the way, the Chinese don't kid around about. These photos were bono-fide professional, straight out of an advertisement or high fashion photo shoot. Apparently, ALL of the Chinese do this when they get engaged. We've seen them out with their entourage on nice days...make-up artist, costume changes, trunks of photo equipment...it's fabulous :) Anyway, they looked like rock stars and we are so excited to be going to their wedding on April 24...another post about that I'm sure.

Back to the food though. As we sat at the table with Zhou and her sister, table FULL of bowls with delicious little treats (some identifiable, while others remained a mystery hiding under sauces and breading). Prawns, fruit cakes, edamame, corn, rice noodles, bamboo shoots...we barely had room for a small bowl to eat from. Using our manners, we let our mouths salivate as we waited for the host, Jacky, to join us from the kitchen. After awhile, Zhou, who speaks little English, yelled into him, which prompted him to tell us to PLEASE start eating, he would be in the kitchen awhile longer cooking the rest of the meal. THE REST? "You mean there's more?" We inquired. Sure enough, as we ate to our hearts content, large bowls were condensed to small bowls, small bowls were emptied and taken from the table, only to be replaced by more large bowls of hot food. Fish soup, sweet, sticky rice, cooked green vegetables, shrimp...the mound of disembodied/inedible seafood parts was growing in front of Erich each time I looked over. I was pleasantly surprised to see that as I glanced at Zhou's small-framed sister, that her pile was twice as tall as Erich's :) And since Zhou is also somewhat of a vegetarian (who only eats seafood), there were vegetable options galore. By the end of the meal, of course, we made room for a few beers and card playing, but I don't think you could've fed us another bite.

Something about that night made it feel like home...a home away from home. Granted, the food was different than what most American families would cook for a get-together, but the love and care that went into the meal was there. It was the best meal I've had since we've been here and it wasn't necessarily because of the food (which by all means was absolutely delicious...I made Jacky promise to give me some lessons so that I could cook some proper Chinese meals for our family/friends this summer). The spirit of friendship and family was there.

And now, with Cup O' Joe up and running, we hope we can offer the same sense of belonging, family, and support to locals and expats that our friends in China offer to us. Week one has passed and the cafe has easily become a go-to spot for many locals to grab some fresh bread, get their caffeine fix, or use a non-squat toilet :) They even got a shipment of what I call "monkey bread" from the French bakery that the cafe purchase breads/pastries from. I never thought I could feel my grandma next to me when she is so far away...as I bit into a slice of the nutty, cinnamon-y, carmelized goodness, I closed my eyes and was transported to her kitchen early in the morning, with the smells of coffee and sounds of morning chatter in the background.

Food is universal. Love is universal. We are lucky to be surrounded by lots of both.