Many years ago, my brother was booking a lot of large jobs in China. The equipment he worked on was located in small towns throughout the countryside and usua

Many years ago, my brother was booking a lot of large jobs in China. The equipment he worked on was located in small towns throughout the countryside and usually required him to be onsite for several days. He had minimal familiarity with the language, and it was rare to find english speakers in these remote locations. It was especially a problem in restaurants because the menu would only be availabe printed in kanji. Since I could read kanji, he asked for help. In return, I sent him pictographs for fish, chicken, pork and beef. He wasn't going to become fluent, but at least he could point at something on a menu with some confidence. He memorized the four characters before his next visit to a restaurant. As he skimmed the menu, he found the character for chicken and pointed to it. The waitress nodded and within a short time she returned with an enormous platter piled high with chicken's feet. Nothing else, just chicken's feet. No, they were not intending to prank the foreigner. In China, chicken's feet are a delicasy....and I will never hear the end of it.