Cooking Chinese

I found a new apartment yesterday. I'll be living with one of my classmates and a Chinese woman. The Chinese woman (we call her teacher) agreed to teach me how to cook Chinese food. My classmate also wants to learn, so we should all have a lot of fun with our new roommate. I'll be posting about those experiences in the future, but as for today I just need to focus on moving.

First Day

Well, I just finished my first day in China. My cookbook fit neatly into my carry on luggage, and wasn't too much of a hassle hauling around. My classmates and I are staying in student dorms. Meals are provided in a building across the street. Breakfast consisted of a few different types of Chinese dumplings accompanied by some sweet bread. Around noon, Chinese students returned to the dorm cafeteria to share lunch with us. The cafeteria is closer in design to a restaurant than a school cafeteria. There is a woman who sits at a table in the corner and takes your order. She gave us a menu, and I asked the Chinese students what they recommended. The items on the menu ranged in price from $1 to about $3. The Chinese students then proceeded to order for the group, promising us some "traditional Chinese food." But, as soon as the woman heard our order she started arguing with the students. She kept telling them that we wouldn't like the types of food they were trying to order. Apparently, the food is just too spicy for the average American.
We eventually ended up with a large assortment of items. As soon as one dish had been completed, another one would be added to take its place at the table. Typical Chinese meals consist of several dishes that can be piled on rice. Our group probably had fifteen dishes in all. We didn't even come close to eating it all. Among the dishes were: fish fragrent pork slivers, kung pao chicken, soup and french fries. I've posted a picture of the pork and french fries. Keep in mind that this was the very early stages of our meal.