A Chinese Custom: Eating the Eye of the Fish!

The first time I was on a plane, I flew from Chicago to Minneapolis - about 45 minutes in the air.

The second time I was on a plane, I flew from Chicago to Hong Kong - quite a cultural shock!

A lot of my travel experience has come from business travel; in the apparel industry, this meant travel to Asia, where much of our apparel is produced.

On my first visit to Hong Kong, I traveled with several co-workers. But I was the only one visiting for the first time.

We were there to see factories and meet with suppliers; the suppliers always treated us to a fabulous Chinese banquet - up to seven or eight courses, with every delicacy imaginable (delicacies to them, of course - not always to me!).

As the "newcomer", I was the "honored guest" at the banquet.

I was also, it turned out, the butt of my co-worker's joke!

One of the main courses of the banquet was a fish - served whole, on a platter set in the center of the table. I did not notice the head pointed toward me, but custom would dictate that the head of the fish points to the honored guest.

We ate the fish - somewhat awkwardly for me, as I was not comfortable with chopsticks at the time - and when we were done (at least, I thought we were done!), one of my co-workers plucked out the fish eye and placed it on my plate.

I stared at him.

He told me that on the first trip, you had to eat the eye of the fish.

I stared at him some more.

At this point, everyone was also staring at me, with anticipation - I wasn't sure if it was a joke, but even our hosts looked like they expected me to do this.

I wasn't sure if I would look more foolish if I ate the eye, or if I refused - but I knew I would look like a coward if I didn't, so I ate it!

Actually, I swallowed it with water, like an aspirin. Still pretty cowardly, but I got it down.

I learned later that this is, in fact, a Chinese custom to honor a favored guest, and as the newcomer, I was the favored guest at the meal.

But to my co-workers, it was definitely a hazing!

I've eaten a lot of unusual things since then - but I think the fish eye is my favorite. I learned that it really isn't that hard to try something new - sometimes it's unpleasant, but each new experience gives you the confidence to try yet another one, and we grow as people step by step.

Have you ever eaten anything new and unusual on a trip? What was it, and how did you manage it?

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