Food for thought

A dirty, hole-in-the-wall restaurant filled with old men smoking cigarettes and drinking beer, a dog running up to the second floor and a plate overflowing with 烧烤 (barbecue) of all kinds - squid, chicken feet, eggplant, clams, intestines, potatoes.

This is how I celebrated my birthday this year - far from home, but surrounded by new friends, co-workers, classmates and delicious food.

Bringing out a small birthday cake with one candle, everyone in the restaurant began to sing "Happy Birthday."

In English, of course.

And it was perfect.

I was reminded many times throughout that day, September 10, that I am blessed. Blessed to be in China, blessed to have found such genuine people, working hard to make nearly a stranger feel welcomed, blessed to have yet another year to expand my world, to become more globally engaged.

And most importantly, blessed to be able to eat, to devour everything that is placed in front of me as a window into this new culture.

Yes, I have been doing a lot of eating lately. A lot.

Hot pot, duck blood, rice and noodles, 混沌 (Nanjing's twist on dumplings), squid, eggplant, 包子 (bread with different fillings), chicken...

You name it, and I've probably eaten it.

These 面 (noodles) you see in front of you were delicious and oozing with flavor, 牛肉 (beef), 椒 (peppers) and 白菜 (bok choy), coming right after taking part in a recording of a TV show with other international students from my university. Because why not? Tune in Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. to see my debut! That is, if you have access to Chinese television :)

But getting back to what's important, I love how food represents this culture - how I can go into the fruit market late at night and observe bartering, late night life in Nanjing and many cultures falling into step with the pace of city life.

I love how food brings us together - how each meal I must decide who I will ask to go eat with me or who will invite me out to eat. Maybe it will just be me for the night, or maybe while walking along the city wall, a Taiwan man will invite me and my friend to eat, sharing in conversation.

And I love how food is teaching me patience, that everything is a process. For example, when eating hot pot, we first must choose the flavors for the water, then the food we want to cook, then we mix our dipping sauces and start waiting...watching our food simmer until golden brown.

And we don't have to talk. We can sit in the silence, awaiting our food. And when it is done, we can just eat - enjoying the flavors that this meal will bring.

Food is teaching me many lessons - lessons of presence in each moment and in the everyday, challenging me to order food in Mandarin as I stare blankly at the menu and to accept it all as it comes.

This has been my prayer, one in a book by John O' Donohue:

For Presence:

Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.

Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.

Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.

Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.

Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.

May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.

May anxiety never linger about you.

May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.

Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.

Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.

My sense are alive, I have witnessed these quiet miracles and each day in China truly is a gift.

I continue to ask these questions and try new foods - only taking enough for the day. Trusting that the food, both for nourishment and for thought, will come again tomorrow, as I experience each day as a scared gift woven around the heart of wonder.