【正文】 em try some authentic Cantonese food. One thing， in particular， he wanted them to try was noodles. He knew several restaurants that served good noodles and took the couple to one of them for lunch one day. Noodles typically e in soup in Cantonese cooking. Chen Dong started eating the noodles with chopsticks， while Jane and Peter exchanged a look at the noise that came with his eating. After a little hesitation， they asked for forks. A waitress told them that they did not have forks， and Chen Dong explained that noodle restaurants do not usually keep forks because no one would think of using forks for noodles. In the next half an hour， Jane and Peter had a hard time trying to roll the long noodles onto their chopsticks. Chen Dong said， “that?s not the way we eat noodles. You put the noodles directly to your mouth with your chopsticks.” “But that?s not the way we eat noodles， ” Jane and Peter said, frowning. Case 8 Dinner in a Chinese Home Besides taking Peter and Jane to restaurants, Dong Chen also invited them to his home for dinner once. Dong Chen ?s mother is a nice wife, and made eight courses for four of them. “I39。m sorry there isn?t much for dinner, she said.” “God this is much more than enough food,” Jane said. Peter was too overwhelmed to even respond to Dong Chen? mother Dong Chen was a little embarrassed. “This is what we usually say to guests，even though there?s plenty of food” he explained． What bewildered Jane and Peter most was that though Dong Chen?s mother kept saying that the food was not good， she constantly served helpings to Jane and Peter． Peter did not like two of the courses very much， and felt bad that his plate was full with whatever he would not be able to eat. At seeing Dong Chen39。s mother?s next move to serve him food， he said in a begging voice， “Please don?t give me any more food． Let me do it myself． Case 9A Notsociable Drink Martin was sent by an American pany to work in a special economic development zone in China for a year. He became very friendly with a few Chinese colleagues. Soon, he started to go out with them. He noticed that Chinese like to have something , such as peanuts, when they have beer, instead of just drinking beer without anything to eat as many North Americans do. One day he was invited to a dinner party to celebrate a colleague?s birthday. They ordered alcoholic beverages and toasted the guest of honor frequently. Soon Martin realized that the plan was to get their friend drunk. Each colleague would offer a toast, concluding with a cheery “ gan bei!” and tried to get Martin to join in, even though he was unwilling to do it. Martin didn?t think it a good idea, and tried to talk them out of the game. However, he was accused of not being a good friend for not cooperating. Martin remained an outsider during the rest of the dinner. He was getting increasingly worried as he watched the poor guest bee increasingly inebriated. Case 10 A Misunderstanding at a Dinner Table Roger was a student majoring in East Asia Studies in an American university. He started an correspondence with Zhang Li, a sociology major in China, who was introduced to him through a mutual friend. Upon graduation, Roger got a big gift from his grandfather. Grandpa would pay for a roundtrip ticket to China. He told Zhang Li the good news, and the two decided to meet. Zhang Li decided to give Roger a very special wele: she and the three women students in her dormitory would cook him an authentic Chinese meal, as Roger had told her that he loved Chinese food. However, when Roger was presented the dinner, he was almost terrified by some of the food: pork stomach soup, pig liver with ginger and spring onion, chicken with mushrooms in which the chicken had been cut to pieces with bones attached to the meal. Fortunately , there were courses like tofu, stirred fried beef, steamed fish and vegetables that Roger loved. He tried to stick to them but Zhang Li kept putting food he did not like on his plate. When she asked how he liked the liver, Roger said, “ It?s very unusual…and interesting. “ This seemed to make Zhang Li happy. And she gave him more liver. Roger tried to stop her, but she would not be stopped. Roger was so frustrated that he told her that he did not really like it that much. “ But you said it was unusual and interesting!”Zhang Li said. “ Well, they both mean something less than positive,” Roger said carefully, trying not to hurt their feelings. Zhang Li and her friends became concerned at this.”“So you don?t like the food?” I?m not used to eating liver, that?s all. But I do like the chicken, the beef, the tofu, and the vegetables. I have had more than enough to eat. I never make this much food at home,” Roger was eager to let them know how much he appreciated their effort. “Trust me, I?m enjoying the food. I know what I like.” Having said that, he found a piece of chicken that was less bony, held it in his hand to eat it, and then licked his fingers. Zhang Li and her friends looked at each other in shock. It was not a perfect first meeting for either Zhang Li or Roger. Case 11 Overdressed Tourists As a van stopped in front of Niagara Falls, a group of Chinese officials streamed out. They were dressed in suits and ties, wearing leather shoes. Many of the men also had left the manufacture?s tag on the sleeve of their suit jacket. As they wandered around Niagara Falls, some of them started to smoke. Their attire drew the stares of North American tourists, some of whom quietly laughed with their friends and pointed at the Chinese visitors. Others frowned at seeing the smoking and shook their heads in disapproval.