This evening I decided to go try a new chinese restaurant. My problem with Chinese restaurants in America is that the food is always bland and that it does not taste like the food Chinese people eat. I do not know if it is because they use different ingredients or because they cater to an American palate, but I know that I often find that I never finish eating my food when we go to Chinese restaurants.I am usually not a picky eater, but after I had the pleasure of eating homemade Chinese food I can say that I have very high standard for Chinese restaurants. It all happened because in high school I had a friend who was a recent immigrant from china. Her parents and her were having a hard time adjusting to the U.S. and I would try to teach them English and other American customs. While my classmates would pick on her for speaking in Chinese, I would try to learn as much as I could about China from her.China was one of the countries I most longed to travel to and would love to hear her stories about her childhood in rural China. Because I was so friendly towards this family, they soon began to invite me for dinner all of the time. And boy can I say that the food was amazing. I had never had food so delicious and it did not taste anything like the food they served at the local Chinese restaurant. I learned how to use chopsticks for the first time too. On weekends, I started to learn more about the art of Chinese cooking from her mother. But because of my juvenile impatience, I did not learn enough. However, I did learn how to grow Chinese vegetables. My friend would always tell me that the vegetables in China tasted so much better because they were grown in different soil, but that our soil was good enough.When I left to college I lost in touch with my friend. Years later we reunited and she now has a beautiful family, I found out that she went to college and became a successful businesswoman. But because of her busy schedule she never has time to cook a beautiful Chinese meal anymore. Instead, like me, she struggles to find the best Chinese restaurants.