Yesterday a friend took us out to lunch at a local Chinese restaurant.  I think it was probably only the second time we've eaten Chinese in the whole 3 months we've been home.  The place we went to was actually an authentic Chinese restaurant called Sichuan 99.  I know it was authentic for a few reasons. 

First, the menu items were listed in Chinese and English.  Second, the restaurant owners all spoke Chinese.  Third, I asked the owners where they were from in China.  Fourth, the "lazy susans" on some of the tables and the pungent smell of oil-n-wok was pretty distinctive.

It's funny; being here in an English-speaking country I was a little nervous to use Chinese to order the food, but after the initial re-entry shock it was like riding a bicycle (as they say).  The waitress was pretty shocked that the White Guy could speak Chinese, too.  I think they got a kick out of it.  It was also hard to restrain ourselves from bellowing out to the waitress, "FUYUAN!" when we wanted service (like you do in China.)

The big plus was that the food was good.  Hen haochi. (Tasty.)  So we will no doubt be revisiting Sichuan 99 to get a taste of home (away from home) AND to brush up on our rusty Mandarin. 

It was funny how excited the girls got to be there, too.  The were squealing and dancing in the aisles when we stepped inside.  These third-culture kids are something else…