Hotpot

Good evening from Beijing!   Sandi asked me to write about the dinner we had tonight.  We went out with two couples we met who are also adopting.  We didn't have a place selected for dinner, so we walked down the street.  We ultimately decided on hotpot.  Hotpot is sort of like Chinese fondue.  You select a base, which was a soup, some meat and veggies and some dipping sauce.   We ate at a Thai place last night and the manager spoke English very well.  This was not the case at the hotpot restaurant.  The staff was excellent.  They were very patient with us which had to be hard because we had no idea what was going on.  We were offered cheesecake before we ordered.  We didn't understand what was going on, so we tried to ask them if it was customary to start the meal with something sweet, but they didn't know what we were asking.  Most at our table started laughing uncontrollably at our feeling of helplessness.  One woman with us did know enough Mandarin to get us through.   By the time the food came, we had a staff of five who were pretty much cooking everything for us; course by course.  We had beef, lamb, chicken, fish, vegetables and noodles.  It was so much fun and the service was fantastic.  It was very affordable too.    I will admit that I was afraid at the start.  I was the first person to walk in the place and was greeted by several people in a language I don't understand.  That was intimidating, but we got to a table, talked, laughed and were walked through the hotpot experience step by step.  It is a meal we will always remember.   Good day!