Considerations concerning the consumption of Chinese cuisine :

According to the California Academy of Sciences Research (CASR) department, chopsticks are thought to have been developed about 5,000 years ago in China. Apparently the leading theory says most folks cooked their grub in large pots since that helped the food to retain its heat. CASR claims that it was the “hasty eaters” that first broke some twigs off a nearby tree and dug in. And thus, chopsticks, or kuai-zi (quick little fellows) were born.

Going further, they also say that the traditional food that most Chinese ate tended to be small enough to negate the use of knives, too. Heating the family meal took fuel, so why not just chop the food up into smaller pieces so it cooks quicker? You save fuel! Makes sense to me. So, that’s what they did. Even the life coach Confucius (who was also a vegetarian–who knew?) is said to have weighed in by encouraging the use of chopsticks over knives since knives could subliminally remind folks of the “slaughterhouses.” Yup. As it turns out, the “hasty eaters” started a serious fad. By 500 BC those quick little fellows had spread throughout China, Vietnam, Japan, and even Korea.

And even Chinese restaurants in America have them.

Oh, do I know how to eat proficiently with them, you ask?

No. Not at all. When I try to use chopsticks it looks like I’m developing advanced arthritis in my fingers. The sticks themselves are more pliable than my phalanges. Considering that I’m getting ready to spend a few years in China this poses a problem for me, a pickle if you will.

I woke up thinking about this today. Yesterday I had a dream that I was in China but I left my camera in America. I’m not much of a picture-taker, but for some reason, in the dream, this stressed me out.

Ok, going to snag two twigs from a tree…

(Ah, if it was only this simple.)