Day 17: Interim Presentation + Vegetarian Hotpot

The day is finally here. Halfway into our OIP trip, and now we have to present what we have done so far for the Project Management part of the Video.

Woke up later than usual and rushed to class, then rushed back to the room to prepare for the presentation. Almost everyone had the same experience, because all the groups held emergency meetings to complete their Gantt Charts and AON Diagrams.

Luckily, my group was very efficient and we were done before midnight (thankfully!) so I got to sleep somewhere around 1am, but I heard others slept at 2-4am. Terrifying right? Must be why almost everyone of my generation goes around sporting eye bags and premature wrinkles.

At night, we accepted the invitation of the Boss of the Vegetarian Restaurant (whom we are frequent patrons of) to go to his place at night for his treat of a Hotpot.

Over there, we were treated to a really fantastic vegetarian hotpot, with mushrooms, vegetables, soy products etc.

In other words, very healthy. Until the broth came out.

Red and fiery, with peppercorns and dried chili slices, we were all wonder how were we going to survive.

Surprisingly, it was quite nice, although really really spicy and the aftermaths will be felt very soon.

In the restaurant, we met another student, 小龙 (xiao long), at WUST studying Economics who was a friend of the Boss (an alumni of WUST) who was also a vegetarian. So Hanhui and I started a conversation with him since he was sitting next to us. With his help, we learned quite a few things about the local culture, such as:

1. Until all the guests have arrived, the seated guests do not start and wait for them to arrive before starting dinner or the event.
2. As guests, we should not be afraid to request for items we require, as it is the duty of the host.
3. Similar to what Ms Tao has mentioned in our OIE class, the use of spoons during meals generally denotes distance between people. As 小龙 explained to us, the use of spoons are usually reserved for formal occasions, thus the distance between the people present is that of seniority.

We also learned how to make a local specialty or sorts, 薄饼 or Popiah, which is somewhat similar to ours. However, the ingredients were different and much simpler and the skin used was thicker, so the end result was very chewy and quite filling. I must get the recipe for it before I go back to Singapore. This will definitely be one of the food I will miss in Singapore.

Reflection:

Tonight, I fully felt the warmth of the Chinese people, which isn't to say that we aren't as warm as in Singapore, but thats not the point today. As frequent customers, the boss who inquired about our backgrounds became something of a friend, and this is actually the second time he has invited us over for a hotpot meal, the other time being during the Mid-Autumn festival. When he say us, he warmly invited us in, and although we brought along almost everyone, he just smiled and rearranged tables to make room. The

other WUST students who were friends of the Boss were also very friendly, and did not hesitate to make small talk with us and took care of us and learn more about Wuhan. One particular lesson that I gleaned from tonight is the importance of punctuality, especially in Chinese culture. In Singapore, we tend to wait for a little while and then start. But because in China, they will wait for all the guests to arrive before starting, I felt very embarrassed when some of my friends turned up late and the other guests of the boss had to wait. As guests and as foreigners, we should learn to respect others cultures to preserve harmony, similar to how we give and take to preserve Racial and Religious Harmony in Singapore, although it is true that we did not know of this custom prior to tonight.

One last thing I want to share is regarding (the lack of) spoons and the (prevalent) use of chopsticks only, which seems to be quite a trending topic today huh. My mother once told me that my maternal grandparents explained that in the past, in the times of Dynasties, soldiers would eat only with chopsticks, and cooks would purposely cook and slice meat and vegetables such that they are not cut completely through. This would then require the soldiers to help each other separate the food so that they can eat it while fostering a greater sense of brotherhood. Perhaps this is one of the underlying theories behind chopsticks-only dining?