Hello to all. It has been some time since my last email, but I have been quite busy with school. I think you will find what I have to say a bit interesting though...

For those of you that have known me for more than a few years, you will know exactly what I mean when I say that I used to be a picky eater (you probably have a few stories to share as well!). Just a few examples: it
wasn't until my sophomore year in college I ate a real hamburger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a bun, before I used to eat a well-done hamburger plain with a fork and knife. For eighteen years of my life everyday for lunch I ate a peanut butter sandwich with creamy peanut butter, white bread, no crust and no jelly. It wasn't until I graduated from college that I was able to have different types of food on the same plate in fear of it "touching". My first piece of pie (and it was so delicious- apple crumb) was on hanksgiving at a friends house my freshman year. what would Eat? Certainly no fruits, no vegetables, hardly any meat ( I would usually pass it under the table when my mom left for the kitchen...really my old dog teddy and I used to have a great system!), just plain white rice or noodles with butter, no sauce, and of course ice cream! Needless to say, I have expanded my horizons a bit (perhaps an understatement) I even surprise my mom today with some of the things I eat that she doesn't like!

Shanghai has a completely different cuisine than the traditional Chinese food back home. Real Chinese food tastes nothing like what we have back home...it is so much better. Below is a list of foods, most of them I have tried. But i must say I haven't tried all of them, but perhaps just stood in amazement slack-jawed and thinking to myself "No, that really can't be an actual chicken foot!"

1. stinky tofu
2. squid
3. de-feathered grown bird with a skewer running through it grilled (it has the eyes, beak, head, the whole bird)
4. cicadas
5. starfish
6. sea horse
7. testicles of various animals
8. pig stomach
9. fish heads
10. eel
11. chicken feet
12. cartilage
13. monkey brains ( the entire monkey is brought to the table center alive and the skull id sawed open, the monkey slowly dies as his brains are eaten)
14. pregnant rat
15. silk worms
16. dog
17. snake
18. jellyfish
19. grasshoppers
20. kidneys
21. quail's eggs
22. chicken hearts
23. shark's fin
24. turtle
25. pigeon
26. pig intestines
27. various drinking tonics for remedy with rats, snakes, and lizards floating in them

so what do you think? I bet you are a bit amazed as you re-read through this list thinking to yourself "no way, monkey brains?!"

I hope all is well back home. My best.

A smile from Shanghai

讀者朋友們好﹗有一陣子沒有給你們寫信了﹐主要是在學校的工作太忙。希望你們 會覺得下面的故事有點兒意思…

那些認識我有幾個年頭的人﹐一定會知道我說自己是一個挑食者的確切意思﹐也許 還能舉出幾個例子和大家講講。僅舉幾例﹕我直到大學二年級才開始吃"真正的" 漢 堡包﹐就是有干酪､生菜､西紅柿､洋蔥和麵餅的那種﹐在那以前我只吃烤熟的漢 堡肉餅﹐並且是用刀和叉吃。我生命中曾經有拾捌年﹐每天中午我的午飯都是花生醬 三明治﹐由乳狀花生醬和白麵包組成﹐不能是麵包殼也不加果醬。直到大學畢業我 的餐盤中才開始出現不同種類的食物﹐我怕的就是這些食物會互相攙和在一起。

我吃的第一塊水果派(美味至極--蘋果派的殼) 是大一過感恩節時在一個朋友家。你問我 那我到底吃些什麼﹖當然不吃水果﹐不吃蔬菜﹐也幾乎不吃肉(我常常在媽媽從餐桌 上去廚房的時候把肉傳到桌子下面去﹐我的狗泰德和我配合得天衣無縫﹗) 我吃的只 是白米飯､麵條加奶油﹐不加調味醬﹐但當然要加冰淇淋﹗無庸諱言﹐我在上海算 是開了眼界(這可能說得還有點兒程度不夠) 。現如今﹐我已經讓我媽媽對我吃的一 些她不喜歡的東西感到無比驚訝了﹗

上海菜系和那些美國的傳統中國食品全然不同。真正的中國菜絕不是我們在美國吃 的那種…真正的中國菜要好吃得多。如下是一張菜譜﹐絕大多數我都嚐過。但我也得 聲明我沒有吃過所有的﹐有時我只是站在一邊瞠目結舌﹐暗自揣摩道﹐「不﹐那說什麼 都不可能是真的雞腳﹗」

1 臭豆腐
2 魷魚
3 炸鳥串
4 蟬
5 海星
6 海馬
7 各種動物的睾丸
8 豬胃
9 魚頭
10 黃鱔
11 雞腳
12 軟骨
13 猴腦
14 懷孕了的老鼠
15 蠶蛹
16 狗肉
17 蛇肉
18 水母
19 蚱蜢
20 腎
21 鵪鶉蛋
22 雞心
23 鯊魚翅
24 烏龜
25 鴿子肉
26 豬腸
27 各種滋補飲品﹐老鼠､蛇和蜥蜴漂浮其上

怎麼樣﹖我敢打賭你讀這張菜譜時一定是讀了又讀﹐不斷問自己﹐"不可能﹐猴腦?"

祝愿你們一切都好﹗

來自上海的微笑﹗