So I’ve been here for two years now, and there’s still one thing I cant get used to – meat with  bones. I know we eat meat of the bone in England, chicken wins/legs, ribs, etc. But here it’s more than that. It’s very hard to order chicken in a Chinese restaurant without bones. This is tackled by literally sucking the meat of the bone while skillfully holding it with chopsticks. Even though my chopstick skills are pretty awesome now, this still presents a challenge for me. I find myself leaving half the meat on the bone as it’s just impossible for me to get to. By the end of the meal, I have a pile of bones next to my plate that look like they have been chewed by a dog. Whereas all the Chinese people at the table have a pile of clean, completely stripped bones sat next to them.

It’s even harder with fish. In England, we are so used to eating de-boned fish. We eat our Friday night fish & chips without the worrying thought of getting a small fish bone lodged in our throats. Fish is a very common dish here, although I find my self constantly avoiding it. My girlfriend seems to have this special ability to put a chunk of fish in her mouth, swallow the meat and spit out the bones, separating the two only with her tongue and teeth. All Chinese people I’ve had the pleasure of eating this can do this effortlessly. I have become quite the entertainment factor during a meal with friends. They watch me in amazement as I try to separate the meat and bones with my chopsticks, and watch even closer as I carefully and slowly chew the meat, as if I’m nibbling on a stick of dynamite.

I’ve been caught off guard so many times, chewing happily on a delicious piece of meat when suddenly, OUCH! I’ve bit right into a small shard of bone. So through fear of cracking a tooth, or choking, I chew nervously, much to others amusement. I’ve mentioned this to my foreign friends, and they share the same thoughts.

What do you guys think?