Roman Holiday

My round of farewell dinners began last night. We went to one of those restaurants that has a few pseudo-Western dishes. Every person at the table pointed out the American steak on the menu, and since they’d chosen the place for me, it seemed kind of grumpy and bitter to explain that I don’t really like huge slabs of dead cow.

At dinner, someone commented again on how funny it is that I look just like Audrey Hepburn and I’m going to have a Roman Holiday. (We look alike in the sense that we both have fair skin and dark eyes)

“I went to Rome once, on business,” the man on my right told me. “I didn’t like it,”

“Really? Why not?” I asked, wondering if there was some Chinese-Italian prejudice I’d missed.

“There are no Chinese restaurants in Rome. None. For ten days I had to eat Western food!”

“I hope I can manage,” I said.

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0 Responses to Roman Holiday

  1. Anonymous says:

    Just found your blog, I think through Sinosplice, and I thought I should write. It’s not every day you find someone who’s into China, gaming (RPGs and electronic), feminism and other cool things. I lived in China in 1992 and in Taiwan from 1996 to 2004; I’ve been a gamer since before puberty; and gender studies is very near and dear to my heart.

    Do you still read comments to older posts in your blog? If I were to go through your year in China and leave comments, would you read them?

    Check my webpage when you get a chance. I think you’ll find we share a lot of interests. And let me know if you want to talk about finding a job after living in China!

  2. MantisBot says:

    *points at dude who didn’t like Rome*

    HAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

    HAHAH

    HAHAHAHAHAHAA

    HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA

    hoo…

    HAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHHAAHHAA!

    Where’s my damn hamburger?!?!

    yes, my comments ARE inciteful and witty, thank you! 😀

  3. acidelic says:

    I was in Europe on a package vacation back in 2000 and we had no trouble finding Chinese restaurants. We found them in France and Italy. It’s well worth the effort. Nothing beats hearing a Chinese woman say an Italian cliche like “Mama mia”!

  4. Athene Numphe says:

    Hey Meg,

    When you go to Rome, don’t be like me and try to look under the fig leaves that are pasted on top of the … on all of the statues in the Vatican Museum. 🙂

  5. Rachel says:

    Gah! Why did I become anonymous there?

    I mentioned my website — I thought it was going to be linked to through my name. In case it doesn’t come up again, my website is http://www.jiawen.net.

    Sorry about that.

  6. Meg says:

    Acidelic, I’m going to be SO happy to eat Western food! From now on, when I order Chinese, it’s going to be American-Chinese food, like spring rolls, crab rangoon, lo mein…

  7. acidelic says:

    Meg,

    Don’t get me wrong. I was talking about American-Chinese food. Good ole takeout, with a European twist. Not “authentic” Chinese food.

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