Ok, I have to update my story about Leo's wedding because John just corrected me after reading it. He said, "that wasn't some kind of beef soup, that was shark fin soup. It's what they always serve at weddings." So it shows what I know. And if anyone ever asks you what shark fin soup tastes like you can tell them it looks like some kind of congealed something or another and tastes like beef broth. Lauren and John loved it. Lauren had several servings of it. Kate and I ate it and enjoyed one bowl. Leah took one tiny sip and promptly said, "no, thank you." At least she has good manners! :) I didn't get a picture of the soup but here it is sitting in front of Leah while she tries to eat some broccoli - notice all the boxes of chocolates stacked in front of her. None of the girls knew at the time that they were tasting shark fin soup - it's a good thing, I'm sure.
The funniest thing about us eating the shark fin soup was that last year our homeschool group took a field trip to the Shanghai Aquarium. At that time they had a special shark exhibit going on and a whole wall was dedicated to how awful it was to have shark fin soup at your wedding because the fishermen just go out, catch a shark, chop off it's top fin to sell for the Chinese wedding market then just throw out the rest of the shark body. Now evidently the shark lovers of China (not sure who really makes up this group?) are trying to change the culture by telling the young kids how awful it is.
The most interesting part of the aquarium day visit though came when they showed our group a video at the shark exhibit. It was a lovely video for a while and then all of the sudden they showed this beautiful bride and groom walking around the wedding tables when the servers came out. They took the lid off of what should be the soup but it was just this awful, bloody carcass of a shark. They flop it down on the table and the blood sprayed all over the bride and it goes on and on at each table. By the end the bride's dress is blood red, literally. Well, all of us Moms standing there are just gasping at the horror being played out and most of the kids are squealing, "oh gross." None of us knew quite what to do but thankfully, it finally finished. Needless to say after that horrific video, Leah, Lauren and Kate will not be having shark fin soup at their wedding - they'll opt for beef broth, I'm sure. Well done, Shark Lovers of China...both of them!
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