Somebody Just Pays...

We went out to dinner with most of the foreign teachers from our school on Saturday night. We went to Brussels, the restaurant I wrote about in my last post. Sadly, in a cruel twist of fate, Katrina got sick just a few hours before we left. She was the one who put all the hard work into planning the event and then she couldn't even go. Just know that we were thinking of you Katrina.

Well, after about 1 1/2 hours on a bus we got off the bus and had to wander around for a few blocks to find the restaurant. We accidentally got off the bus a little bit early so we had to figure out where we were going. Once we got to the restaurant and out of the cold we got a chance to look at the menu. The menu had so many yummy options to choose from that were not Chinese! You can actually get a steak there! It is the first place we have come across that serves an actual steak. The steak was tempting, but I had already decided I was having turkey, so that is what I got. All of the food we ordered was delicious. It was more than delicious, it was amazing! Our taste buds were so happy. We would like to eat there every night, except that it was super expensive (some of the steaks cost 200 yuan!). However, after eating the food we decided that the high price was worth it.


When we were ready to leave we asked the waitress to bring us the bill. When she handed it to me my jaw dropped. The total came to almost 700 yuan! I tried to say there was a mistake and ours should only cost about 15o yuan, however I was stopped by some people around me. I was told that here in China they don't do separate checks, they just bring one big bill for the entire table. And they won't split it for you even if you ask. That is just something they don't do here. Then I was told that here in China they don't worry about splitting it up and every one paying for their items because they usually eat family style at restaurants. I was then told that usually they bring the bill out and "somebody just pays.... we usually take turns taking care of the bill". I was also told that usually the person who asks for the bill was the one who paid for it. AHHHHH! I was so worried. I didn't want to pay for the entire table! McKay and I made sure to eat economically. We didn't have any drinks like the other teachers and got some of their cheaper items for dinner. Luckily the others at our table were willing to figure out exactly what each person owed. That was a relief.
I never thought I would miss going dutch when going out to eat. When I was dating I thought it was dumb, and since being married I haven't had to think about it. But the other night I really missed being able to go dutch when it came to dinner. Despite their different billing style, we will definitely be going back to Brussels Cafe. We will probably just go on our own next time to avoid those bill issues.