Today? Today I Ate a Duck Brain.

Originally posted 6/15/10

Right now I am eating a snickers. An hour ago, I was eating a bit of duck brain. We had a 2 hour long welcome dinner tonight that consisted of more than 15 traditional Chinese dishes. It was probably one of the most adventurous meals I have ever eaten. Included were; earthworm gelatin, crab, rock fish, giant prawns, duck soup, abalone, squid, and many other mysterious foods.

We sat at a round table with all of the food on a rotating platter in the middle. There was fried rice with caviar and a big fish that was looking at me with it’s beady eye. At one point Jasen pulled the duck head out of the soup and the next thing I knew, he was offering me some duck brain. How can you say no to that? I didn’t. Yikes. Mostly, it tasted like tofu, but I am pretty darn proud of myself. Overall, tt was a perfect introduction to mainland China!

The conference was good today. Many of the sessions were rushed, and most of the presenters were very difficult to understand, but for the most part, I feel smarter already. I think that is a good sign.