dinner last night

[mtbdude]

yan and i had opportunity to have dinner with a chinese family last night, in a very nice chengdu restaurant. the daughter, jingjing, who is the cousin of yan zi's best friend, is an accounting major in canada, and i have been tutoring her online over the past year. it was their way to say thank you, and a farewell to jingjing who will be returing to school soon.

 

when the menu came there was a lot of discussion about what the white boy would eat. i finally told them to just go for it, and i would give everything a try.

 

now i'm millimeters from being a vegetarian, and nanometers from the animal rights philosophy, but i feel that ideology sometimes has to be put aside in deference to people's feelings, and when there's simply nothing to be gained by it.

 

so i just sucked it up when the food arrived, and jingjing advised me to not ask, and just taste, and so i followed her advice. i'm pretty sure i ate the bill of some bird, and various organs. didn't ask and don't want to know. but a healthy quaffing of beer throughout the meal kept my mind from delving into what specifically i might be putting in my mouth.

 

speaking of beer, at one point early in the meal auntie raised her glass and said "toast, toast!", so we all tapped our glasses together and i said "cheers" just before i emptied my glass, which only had a swallow in it.

 

after that there was a lot of laughing and discussion in chinese which i sensed to be about me, and then yan told me that they thought "cheers" must mean to drink it all, bottoms up! so, on the next toast mommy held up her full glass and gave me a serious, almost challenging stare, and said "cheers!!!" my glass was full too. we both chugged as everyone else watched, then we held out our empty glasses toward each other while everyone else laughed and applauded.

 

this happened maybe 10 times, my memory is a little foggy, and auntie initiated at least 5 of them. whenever "toast" came along, everyone emphacized the word "toast," so as to make clear we weren't chugging. fortunately my alcohol enhanced witicisms didn't go too far out of bounds, and we all laughed quite a bit last night.

 

did i mention that these chinese women can drink? they will hurt you.

 

yan zi told me later that it's traditional to drink with friends at dinner, and if the hosts get you drunk, it means "they really respect you and love you!" if they don't get you drunk, it means they don't really care too much for you.

 

i was deeply honored.

[sylinchinastill]

In Chinese culture cheers, Gambei- really means to drink the whole glass- the trick- if you don't want to get drunk- is to always leave a bit of wine or baijiu in your glass, that way they will not pour you more.

[mtbdude]

In Chinese culture cheers, Gambei- really means to drink the whole glass- the trick- if you don't want to get drunk- is to always leave a bit of wine or baijiu in your glass, that way they will not pour you more.

yan zi confirmed what you said, that gambei essentially means bottoms up. but she wasn't aware of "cheers" meaning gambei. i still suspect my quick-witted hosts found opportunity to have fun with me.

 

like you said, every time my glass was empty it was quickly replenished! but once anyone's glass was finished, everyone's got topped off again.

[mtbdude]

Gambei is deadly!

 

The men in the family will take turns gambei-ing you.

but don, it was the women who ganged up on me! and they weren't sipping, they showed me their empty glass every time!

 

yan zi told me that auntie is a hotel manager who has to drink with clients often, and i have no doubt that she could drink me under the table.

[frank1538]

Gambei is deadly!

 

The men in the family will take turns gambei-ing you. Watch, and they will sip theirs. A few minutes later, one of the other guys will do the same. The joke is on you - you get to drink a full glass each time to their amusement.

 

Same thing happened to me at the farewell dinner the night before I brought Xiahong home. Her brother and 3 brother-in-laws. Since I had been there - done that before, I called them on it and we all had a good laugh. Then we took turns measuring how much each drank after the toast.

Yep, gotta be careful. At our ceremonial wedding dinner, I made the obligatory rounds of the various tables, "cheering" with many different men. One guy, who I think had a thing for Jingwen kept raising his glass, saying cheers. Jingwen advised me to be careful, he's jealous and just wants to get me drunk.

 

My response to Jingwen and the man was something to the effect that you don't want to do shots with an American who weighs 50 lbs more and can hold his liquor. The man was carried home that night. I went home to a wonderful bed and beautiful wife.

[NicolaNSam]

Gambei is deadly!

 

The men in the family will take turns gambei-ing you. Watch, and they will sip theirs. A few minutes later, one of the other guys will do the same. The joke is on you - you get to drink a full glass each time to their amusement.

 

Same thing happened to me at the farewell dinner the night before I brought Xiahong home. Her brother and 3 brother-in-laws. Since I had been there - done that before, I called them on it and we all had a good laugh. Then we took turns measuring how much each drank after the toast.

Yep, gotta be careful. At our ceremonial wedding dinner, I made the obligatory rounds of the various tables, "cheering" with many different men. One guy, who I think had a thing for Jingwen kept raising his glass, saying cheers. Jingwen advised me to be careful, he's jealous and just wants to get me drunk.

 

My response to Jingwen and the man was something to the effect that you don't want to do shots with an American who weighs 50 lbs more and can hold his liquor. B) The man was carried home that night. I went home to a wonderful bed and beautiful wife.

I just kept on keeping on with the toast offers at our wedding. Only they were drinking hard liquor and little did they know I was hitting up the ole shots of tea! HAHAHA No one had a clue once they saw my "terrible look" everytime I downed another tea! HAHAHA

[Martytb]

Gambei is deadly!

 

The men in the family will take turns gambei-ing you. Watch, and they will sip theirs. A few minutes later, one of the other guys will do the same. The joke is on you - you get to drink a full glass each time to their amusement.

 

Same thing happened to me at the farewell dinner the night before I brought Xiahong home. Her brother and 3 brother-in-laws. Since I had been there - done that before, I called them on it and we all had a good laugh. Then we took turns measuring how much each drank after the toast.

Yep, gotta be careful. At our ceremonial wedding dinner, I made the obligatory rounds of the various tables, "cheering" with many different men. One guy, who I think had a thing for Jingwen kept raising his glass, saying cheers. Jingwen advised me to be careful, he's jealous and just wants to get me drunk.

 

My response to Jingwen and the man was something to the effect that you don't want to do shots with an American who weighs 50 lbs more and can hold his liquor. B) The man was carried home that night. I went home to a wonderful bed and beautiful wife.

All right Frank!!!

My kinda guy!

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

Gambei is deadly!

 

The men in the family will take turns gambei-ing you. Watch, and they will sip theirs. A few minutes later, one of the other guys will do the same. The joke is on you - you get to drink a full glass each time to their amusement.

 

Same thing happened to me at the farewell dinner the night before I brought Xiahong home. Her brother and 3 brother-in-laws. Since I had been there - done that before, I called them on it and we all had a good laugh. Then we took turns measuring how much each drank after the toast.

Yep, gotta be careful. At our ceremonial wedding dinner, I made the obligatory rounds of the various tables, "cheering" with many different men. One guy, who I think had a thing for Jingwen kept raising his glass, saying cheers. Jingwen advised me to be careful, he's jealous and just wants to get me drunk.

 

My response to Jingwen and the man was something to the effect that you don't want to do shots with an American who weighs 50 lbs more and can hold his liquor. B) The man was carried home that night. I went home to a wonderful bed and beautiful wife.

I had the same experience except my brothers-in-law wanted to try to drink me under the table. ErGuo ended up puking and falling on his head by about 6:00, then passing out. After that, I was a well respected son.

[frank1538]

Maybe someone can shed some light on this, but I have heard that genetics may have a bearing on one's ability to "hold his liquor". Surely, my weight had something to do with being able to match shots with folks, but I have also been told that as a general proposition, Westerners have a higher tolerance for alcohol.

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

I think there is a connection with genetically being able to drink, but I would also tend to think that size and constitution have more to do with it. However, some folks, no matter who they are, drink a lot and build up a tolerance for it, those are the ones you have to watch out for.

[Jeikun]

Our livers convert the alcohol into another substance which can be eliminated from the body... but that substance makes you sick, being far more toxic than the alcohol itself. There is a certain genetic condition. It causes your liver to metabolize alcohol very efficiently and quickly. Which results in you eliminating the alcohol more quickly... but also becoming much more sick much faster. It is fairly rare in Caucasians but very common in Asians and Native Americans (I forget the exact percentage... something like 1 in 7 if I remember correctly). Even without the specific condition, asians tend to metabolize alcohol a bit more quickly than caucasians. Maybe this is why there is more of a tradition of eating with alcohol there... it slows absorption through the stomach lining... also, more bitter, stronger tasting alcohols tend to make the passage from the stomach to the small intestine clench up further slowing absorption... maybe this explains their "wine" too :huh:

[Chinese Wife!!!]

It is fairly rare in Caucasians but very common in Asians and Native Americans (I forget the exact percentage... something like 1 in 7 if I remember correctly).  Even without the specific condition, asians tend to metabolize alcohol a bit more quickly than caucasians.

Another theory I have heard is that the European cultures have had Centuries of drinking history. Native Americans did not have this "conditioning" or "evolutionary process". It was equated to what smallpox and even chicken pox did for them also- (on the lines of a building up a resistance or immunuity). I'm of 1/4 Cherokee and Irish heritage and quit drinking 6+ years ago through an extensive recovery program- tons of ETOH education. There are many in the field that hold that there is a genetic predisposition for alcoholism. In the average general population (US) I have heard figures of being alcohol dependent as high as 7%. The figures for Native Americans being ETOH dependent are astoudingly higher than the average population even when trying to factor in such things as the economic and educational situations.

Likewise I know that Asians have a low tolerance for certain American medical dosages. My son that is half Thai went through full cardiac arrest at age 10 (he's still alive and kicking) after surgery for a cut finger. The board that was convened found that he was over medicated for his ethinicity.

[tonado]

http://www.aim-digest.com/gateway/pages/bo...les/special.htm

 

"An example of genetic variation is shown among Asians. Here, alcohol metabolism is impaired by a nonfunctional form of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Adverse reactions to even small amounts of alcohol include facial flushing, nausea, heart palpitations, and dizziness Research suggests 25-40% of Japanese, 25% of Han Chinese and 15-30% of Koreans are affected."

[tonado]

http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-4/233.pdf

 

Alcohol Consumption AmongRacial/Ethnic Minorities

[oregonknl]

Good Posts Tony!