At dinner last night, the subject of Cantonese and Mandarin came up again, namely the differences between the two and where each is spoken. So that led me to recount once again the story of how when I studied Mandarin in Hong Kong many years ago, I actually had to leave the Territory to practice it.
Which brought me to China.
And to Taiwan.
Back then, it was difficult to find Mandarin speakers in Hong Kong. Things have since changed there, but this all got me thinking about practicing Mandarin here in the Chicago area.
That’s when I remembered there is a place just five minutes from my suburban home where it’s easy to practice Mandarin.
The Taiwanese food court!
I’ve been here at most a dozen times in the last seven years. Since my youngest stopped napping a month ago, lunchtime is suddenly more flexible than ever. So I took my two sons (my daughter started school today) to the food court for lunch. Four-year-old Martin and I shared a big bowl of delicious beef noodle soup.
Fifteen-year-old Jake ordered seafood noodle soup. Both boys had fruit smoothies. And I ordered most of it speaking Mandarin.
After lunch, we headed to the Asian grocery next door to buy mooncakes. It felt so good to practice Mandarin that I spoke it with the Cantonese-Vietnamese cashiers. They were totally nice about it and nodded in sympathy as I went on and on about how the nearby public schools don’t teach Mandarin. (I wonder if knowledge of the food court would change the school board’s mind?)
The mooncakes were a bit hit and now are all but gone.
There’s still time to buy mooncakes. Vanessa, I have to admit, the first time I tasted a mooncake, I was a little disappointed. Now I like them. The trick is: eat only a small slice at a time. It’s tasty with tea or milk.
The full moon was so beautiful here this month (We were driving across Washington state from Pasco to Seattle when it rose.) I’m expecting it to be even better on Sept. 19.
Thank you so much for your comment, Nicki! Yes, small quantities is the key. My kids don’t understand that, although sometimes the boxes include a plastic knife and long two-pronged forks. In that case, they’re fine with cutting them up into pieces. Otherwise they just eat them whole (although I’ve been buying small ones in the last few years). It will be nice to see the full moon on the 19th!
in response to your last photo of moon cakes……
i like the idea of mooncakes better than the taste! that goes back to the first one i ever ate which looked super delicious but was such a disappointment to eat. not sure what i was expecting but certainly not a mouthful of something with a bitter tasting paste inside. the rest of the box was quickly dispatched to our amah who seemed well pleased!
there is a lot of hype around mooncakes these days and traditional ones are sold alongside recipes that are more XXI century and often plain wacky.
an example from singapore: “Snow-Skin Mooncake with Champagne Truffle & Ganache 冰皮香槟巧克力月饼 is back to delight. The ivory-coloured treat, featuring an exquisitely hand crafted Champagne truffle that is delicately swathed in creamy white lotus paste and enfolded in a duvet of tender snow-skin, is a perennial favourite every Mid-Autumn festival.”
the peninsula, as ever, cashes in on the party *US$62,40 oer box of four. i guess the lion’s share of the cost goes on the packaging and buying into the pen brand ! on sale since last month they are often sold out, so someone must be purchasing!
http://forum.allabouthongkong.com/index.php?/topic/360-price-increased-by-88-on-peninsula-hotels-mooncakes/
anyway susan, enjoy the mid-autumn festival with all its magic! 😀 i just hope it doesn’t pour with rain and that the quality of air is clean so we can see the moon over here, sadly not always a given these days!
Thanks so much! I also don’t really like mooncakes. But I guess my kids do because they didn’t last more than 24 hours. The ones I bought were small, but still. That’s just crazy about the Pen’s mooncakes!