After reviewing the available topics and surveying the qualifying locations, of course the ethnic foods category stood out to me the most. I decided to visit Mr. Chen’s Chinese restaurant in Hoover. I have always eaten at the traditional “Americanized Chinese” restaurants. I was interested to see what true Chinese cuisine was like. Some preconceived notions that I went into this experience with were the fact that Chinese food consisted of different sorts of chicken (orange, sesame, general Tso’s ect) and rice and vegetables, because, only going to chain franchises this is the idea that you get. For the culture blog assignment it suggested that we try the basil pig leg. I don’t think I quite understood what I was getting myself into by ordering these but I figured “what the heck might as well try it.” I asked the waiter to describe the dish to me. He told me that it was made using the feet of the pig, and that it was cooked using several herbs including soy cooked just long enough to tenderize the skin. I found it interesting when he told me that the Chinese like to use all parts of the animal in order to not waste anything. I must admit that at first thought eating pig feet seemed a little disturbing but when I considered this fact I was able to understand the culture in its own terms, using cultural relativism. It must have been obvious that I was out of place because several waiters and even the cook came out to confirm with me that I was sure that I really wanted to eat the pig feet. One young lady explained to me that it is a popular dish with native Chinese but that they rarely have any Americans request it. Until my dad reminded me, I had forgotten that many people here in the south eat pickled pig’s feet on a regular basis, so in a way this dish could be found similar to one in my own culture. Another interesting thing that I noticed during my experience was that when I ordered my drink, the waitress brought me a can of diet coke instead of a glass filled from a soda fountain. I assumed that this act goes along with their norms of not wasting any beverages by constantly refilling a glass. This is certainly different than another other American cuisine restaurant that I have visited. I feel that my first experience using participant observation was a very informative and successful one. I was able to immerse myself in another culture and remove my opinion on the culture long enough to truly learn something new about them directly from the source. By gaining an emic view, I can now override my assumptions and understand more about people who are different from me.
