Alien's Diary

There were no knives and forks around the dining hall. I looked around and saw people eating with chopsticks. That was what I was also supposed to do. But I had never used chopsticks before. I slowly moved towards the stock and picked up two green chopsticks. People around me were looking at me while I was wondering how to use them. I wanted to ask for a fork but I didn't have the confidence that I would be able to ask properly for what I was looking for.
I came to my table, looked at the bowl of noodles that I had in front of me. I sighed silently. I had to take the noodles from the bowl to my mouth with these two small pieces of sticks. My hands were shaking a little bit as I was too nervous to use them. Again, I looked around. Everybody was eating without any hesitation.
You feel like an alien while you are around people whose language you don't understand at all. I was in a place where I didn't understand what people were saying. I didn't know how to ask for water. I didn't know how to figure out location map, and I couldn't ask with people. It is hard to find English speaking people in China. The adventure of living like a complete outsider is sort of fun until you have to face a problem.
I was terrified for few seconds that I would have a difficult time throughout my stay if I could not succeed in eating food properly with these chopsticks. However, I was determined to struggle with them and eventually learn to make do with them.
Travelling in China can be exciting and adventurous in many ways. Everything was new to me, language, culture and people's activities and Chinese style of greeting. All these things make one surprised and sometimes can cause a sort of culture shock. I was mesmerized by many Chinese people's attitude and way of life. The most disturbing thing is that some people want to help foreigners even when it is not necessary and sometimes people do not show any interest in helping foreigners even when you actually need it.
What could be more interesting than finding people who care to read the paper that you carried in your hands and comes to help you voluntarily? The Chinese style of dealing with people, most of the time, is unpredictable.
Eating noodles with chopsticks for the first time in my life was daunting, and felt like the most difficult tasks I would have to do. But that was very normal for people who do it all the time. It was the first day of my stay in China.