Cristina Has A Job Too

As most of you know, I am currently employed at an Asian restaurant. Seeing as I spend the majority of my hours each week there, it's also where most of my stories and thoughts on life come from. Partially, it's just time to give Casey a break from being the only one to ever hear every restaurant story, so I'm sharing with you some of my favorite things (and/or my pet peevs) about this job. Also, for quite a while now, God has been trying to teach me to be content with where He has me. I have fought hard against this, but every once in a while, I get a glimpse of what He's doing, and I am still, and know that He is God. So, in light of that, I'm also sharing some fun things about where He has me now.

1. Okay, here is my first favorite part about my job. I told you I work in an Asian restaurant. The descriptor "Asian" has been used loosely. Once I tell people where I work, Casey loves to tell them how I described the diner early on---"I'M about as Asian as THEY are!"

In fact, I may be more Asian, since I actually know some Chinese, and have eaten the real-deal "Kung Pao Chicken", along with a number of other dishes that you'll never find at the local "Panda Star Dragon Buffet". But, here in Raleigh, most people don't know that if you just throw some of the same ingredients together, slap on an Asian-sounding name, and cook it in a wok, it won't necessarily come out Asian. So, there you have one of the most ironic things about my workplace. But here's what I think is even more ironic.

Putting aside all that I just told you about it not being all that Asian, pretend that it really is Asian, and then let me tell you that our staff is maybe 60(ish)% Hispanic, coming from Mexico, Colombia, and I'm not sure where else. (Of the other 40(ish)%, I have two co-workers from the Philippines, one co-worker who is half-Japanese, and another handful of co-workers who are Caucasian). I LOVE it! So, summary of #1: I work in an Asian restaurant, but not really.

2. Onto my second "favorite part of my job"...which may sound more like a rant, but just trust me that these things actually make me laugh more than they make me complain. Alright, now I know that for most Americans, Asian languages are really difficult to understand because the way things sound and look can be so different from the way English sounds and looks. However, like I said, this isn't really that Asian...I hate to burst your bubble, but the name doesn't even have a meaning. It just looks "Asian" to the American eye...and, I think, is supposed to be easy to pronounce for us English-speakers. Well, apparently they did not have North Carolina in mind when they came up with the name, because North Carolinians cannot pronounce it. So I'm gonna give you some tips on how not to say the name:

-This restaurant is not named after "Pee Wee" Herman, so please refrain from using his name in your order.
-Nor is it a bakery, so please refraining from asking the question "Pie Why?"
-From now on, think of it as a place where you buy your own dinner---in other words, where you "Pay [your own] Way."

(Disclaimer: you may very well be one of the people who does this, so if I offended you, I'm sorry, and I also encourage you to now learn the correct way pronounce the name. For more information on how you can pronounce the entire menu correctly, please email or call me...I joke. Sort of.)

3. Third favorite part of my job time! So, along the same lines as #2, this will be about pronunciation. However, this is about a much more important issue. Food. Isn't there a saying---"You are what you eat"? Then, people, people, people...you should know what you're eating (including how to say what you are eating...correctly). The most obvious menu item for this is edamame.

Now, the first time I ever heard of or saw edamame, was actually in China. When I came back, however, I soon learned of its growing popularity in America. It's now pretty easy to find on your salad bar, or in your local grocery store. So, if you don't yet know what it is, it is time to learn. It's basically little green soybeans in the shell. They are usually steamed still in the shell and you put salt on them and take them out of the shell to eat the little beans...or you can shell them and then cook them and eat them in salads or just as a veggie. Anywho...they are an appetizer in our little diner, so A LOT of people order them. But, when I say they order them, what I really mean is I translate whatever non-language they are speaking and eventually decipher that they want edamame (ED-UH-MA-MAY). There really is no end to the ways that I hear this ordered:

ENT-UH-MON-EE (there is not a single T in this name people)

ED-UH-MEE (which I personally thinks sounds like some sort of serious crime)

ED-DAH-MUH-MAY (emphasis on the "dah"...very European, but let's remember, this is supposed to be Asian)

ED-UH-MOMMY (your mom)

EED-UH-MEE (apparently, in America, if you don't know how to pronounce a syllable, you just leave it silent...is that why we have so many silent g's in English?)

END-UH-MON-AY (nice try, but there's no N in edamame)

END-UH-MON-EE (nice try again, but...again...no N)

EED-UH...EED-UH...those green things! (Okay, FINALLY an honest person! This pronunciation is almost okay, because at least they admit they have NO clue how to say it)

Alright, alright, perhaps you are bored because you don't work here, and you don't think edamame humor is actually humorous (I'll just dedicate this post to all my work friends). But, everyone should be able to appreciate this last word on pronunciation in an Asian restaurant.

Now, like I said, Asian languages are really different from English, but that does not excuse you from ordering things that sound like bodily functions. When you see a dish name that actually says Kung Pao, but which you think says Kung Poo, or even Cow Poo (people, I am not making this up), WHY ON EARTH would you think to yourself, "Mm...you know, I've been meaning to try poo. It just sounds so appetizing. And COW poo on top of that??? I WANT THAT!"????????
Moral of the story: Know what you are saying before you say it. If you don't know how, ask. Of course, if you start asking, I won't have as many laughs about the way you pronounced your dinner order, so maybe just leave it be...

Alright, let's bring this super-long soapbox to an end, and I'll say that even though I sometimes can't feel my feet after working a double, and even though I think I'll vomit if I have to ask one more person "Do you need chopsticks or plasticware today?"---at least I occasionally have interesting stories, and a crazy-diverse workplace, and relationships that are being built...however slowly it may seem, and however often I forget about all that. Fortunately, God is very patient and faithful to keep showing me that He is sovereign, even over not-so-Asian-Asian-restaurants.