In one year's Chinese Valentine’s Day, my parents took me out to a restaurant to celebrate the festival. I was just curious about how my parents spent their honeymoon after the wedding. What I was looking forward to is a very romantic answer, something like a cruise trips. But my mom said they traveled to parts of China to taste various food. My father came to the restaurant after parking our car. I asked my father the same question, and for sure, my father gave me the same answer. The answer is obviously not as “aesthetic” or romantic as I expected, but I can feel that they are genuinely happy about that experience. 

Now, I want to tell you what it is like to be a child from a foodie family.

While the other children were attending tutoring on weekends, my mother and I were just searching for a new restaurant. The level of seriousness when we search for restaurants is as high as the level of seriousness when my classmates do their assignments. We always refer to customer reviews from different platforms, photos posted by customers, and whether they have coupons, and other standards for a comprehensive evaluation. If we pick a restaurant we want to go to, we will just go no matter how far it is! As is well known, Beijing is a huge city. Once, my mother and I spent over an hour switching between different subway lines and bus routes for a popular Japanese buffet. Of course, we did tons of similar things; for example, waiting for over an hour to eat the food we want, driving from the city for two to three hours to the mountain area to pick baskets of fresh fruits, and spending the whole day preparing for a family barbecue party without letting me to do my homework.

For travel, the main focus of others' trip may be to learn about different cultures or histories, but our family's trip focuses only on food. Our principle of choosing a hotel is not to be close to the airport or scenic spots, but to see if the hotel is close to a famous restaurant. Once when we were traveling in Hangzhou, it was raining heavily, and the depth of the rainwater almost reached the top surface of the shoes. Yet, we still walked in the storm and went to a restaurant to but the tonkatsu we wanted. Just to let you knwo, nothing can stop us from searching for food.

Finally, I would like to share a conversation between my mother and I.

“Jerry, what do you want to become when you grow up?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, a gourmet.”

“That is awesome! You always watch TV shows related to food. You have the experiences. You will also get the chance to travel and learn. I support your choice!”

Well, now I have switched my dream job already, but food is still a thing that connects my family tightly! I also realize that I am actually lucky to be in this “stress-free” foodie family. Every time I feel bad, my dad will always say that he will take me to have a barbecue because barbecue can heal everything. You know, it’s about food, but it is more than just food… It is about love, care, and supportiveness. While, being a part of this foodie family is somewhat cool!