2002-06-09 - 11:37 p.m.

Dim Sum

In spite of our Herculean labors yesterday, Lily and I had a social engagement early this afternoon. We were going to eat Dim Sum with her Chinese class.

Now Lily tried to explain Dim Sum to me, and she finally said that it's a Chinese cultural thing, and hard to explain. However, she did say that it involved eating dumplings, and I am always down with the dumpling eating.

I don't know why Lily had such a hard time explaining Dim Sum to me. Basically what it seems to be is this: waiters and waitresses bring you all sorts of different little Chinese food tidbits until you tell them to stop. What's so hard to explain about that?

During much of it I felt like a finicky American baby, being very careful about what I was eating. I didn't really find anything among the variety of dishes that really excited me, but I didn't really find anything I truly disliked either.

By the luck of the draw I wound up sitting next to one of the professors visiting from China, and he assumed that I was a student and began asking me questions in Chinese. When I told him I was the boyfriend of one of the students, he still assumed that I was going to college, too. "You are a Sophomore?" he asked. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was last a Sophomore in 1979.

I know I look a bit younger than my age, but this is ridiculous! I'm sure the guy was thinking "American students are so dissipated, this one looks like he's middle-aged! Too much drinking and all night partying!"

It was actually interesting talking to him, with Lily helping with my comprehension. He's a professor at the University of Nanjing where Lily is going to be visiting in a couple months. Apparently the University is SURROUNDED by restaurants and eateries, and he was telling her where to get the best noodles, and so on. There's even a McDonald's nearby!

After lunch (or whatever it was) we went shopping at a Chinese grocery store nearby, and ran into the Chinese professors again.

Lily was teasing me later, calling me a "sophomore."

"Oh no," she cried, "I'm dating a younger man!"