Travels in a Tin Can

ordered the waitress’ eyes kept widening, and we knew we were doing
something wrong. We responded to her facial expression by trying to indicate
our ignorance as to what was an appropriate amount to order, but in this we
failed!
Soon the food began to arrive. The starter, dumplings, was about twice
the size of a similar dish in the UK. The duck was about the size we expected,
but not cooked the same way as we are used to, chopped rather than
shredded, and with broken bits of bone still attached, so we did not eat much
of it - no worry though, we certainly did not starve. Each main dish, and the
chicken fried rice, was big enough to be a full meal for both of us. Fortunately
there is a real 'doggy bag' culture in the US - probably because their portions
are so big - so we asked for our leftovers, virtually two whole dishes to be
packed up.
A few minutes later we left feeling full, satisfied (by the quality and
cheapness of the food) and with me incredibly excited. Excited because the
doggy bags were the little square boxes with metal handles that I had long
coveted when I had seen the Friends gang have them. I was slightly
concerned that these take-out boxes might be a myth, having discovered that
the other American food treat that I had been looking forward to experiencing,
the Soda Fountain, was not actually a big stream (or series of streams) of soft
drink shooting up into the air and waiting for me to put my cup under. Emma
laughed at me for days when I admitted to this misconception!
A few weeks later we received a language lesson in a fast food
restaurant. You might expect all dishes in these types of eateries to be easy
to order, but not so in Taco Bell. I spent about five minutes trying to order a