Mr. Ding's Chicken Feet: On a Slow Boat from Shanghai to Texas

I spent the academic year of 1999/2000 teaching English in Shenzhen. I spoke no Chinese, at the time, and had no formal teaching experience. So I could definitely relate to Gillian's frustrations, culture shock, and malentendus. It's 1991 and Gillian is a grad student in Galveston, TX. The semester is coming to a close and she spies an ad on the bulletin board for an ESL teacher aboard a ship sailing from Shanghai to Galveston. After a hard sell Gillian manages to land the job aboard the all male ship. The company flies her to Shanghai where she boards the ship. The reader witnesses her feelings about being the only woman on the ship; loneliness and some sexual harassment egged on by the only other American on board. She experiences a Sapphic awakening as she realizes in her state of isolation that she doesn't have any romantic feelings for her boyfriend. She manages to break through the cultural, gender, and language barriers to form some attachments to her students and especially Mr. Ding, the cook. The book is riddled with faux pas but the funniest part, I would say, is when she saves Mr. Ding by hurling the violent Panamanian vendor into the Canal.

In Mr Ding's Chicken Feet, the author, Gillian Kendall, comes across at first as maybe a little naive and unwary. She is a risk-taker. Her apparent lack of serious doubt about the whole enterprise, her trust in her fellow human beings not to harm her and her faith that it would all work out made me a little nervous on her behalf. But she is vindicated by the experience and it is her empathy and geniality that are the keys to her success. Observing Kendall's openness to life and her willingness to reach out across cultures became one of the pleasures of reading the book. A cynical reader such as I am found it instructive to watch her interest in humanity unfold and be repaid. Her story really takes off once the ship leaves shore. Then it leaves behind any experience I and probably most readers have had. Shipboard life with a completely male crew who mostly speak very fractured English seems so weird and challenging that you half expect the book to be a story of failure -- perhaps noble failure but depressing nonetheless. So it's very satisfying that she actually makes a difference to the sailors' English and lives. She is inventive in her methods and determined to give her employers their money's worth and thereby wins the crew's respect and affection. Kendall can write -- just see her description of the terrible storm at sea. It had me rigid with tension. Shades of Conrad in Typhoon. She has a distinctive and likable tone of voice. The book tells an optimistic story in an unpretentious way and gives you faith in the power of empathic teachers (and English!).

Only a woman confident in her own sense of humor and adventure would have taken a job as the lone female and one of only two English-speakers on a boat far from shore. Gillian jumps on board with both feet, well-equipped with teaching materials and ideas. In short order some of her ideas are altered, replaced, or simply scrapped and thrown overboard. As she describes her daily struggles to accommodate vast cultural differences while at the same time trying to actually teach useful language, she offers sensitive analysis of the characters that make up the crew. Touching but funny interactions with the sometimes reverential sailors and vibrant descriptions of the nautical environment make this book a delight to read and a struggle to stop reading.

Quite a lot of backstory here, but once the trip got underway I was hooked. Worth reading to find out how she saves Mr. Ding's life if for no ther reason!

This is a great, un-put downable read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kendall takes us into a completely foreign world of ships and sailing; and I don't mean a quiet sail out on the Bay that many people do on the weekend. I am talking SERIOUS sailing, where you loose sight of the coast, where it's just you, a dozen strangers who don't speak English and who love to eat chicken's feet. The part where she tries to make friends with and feed a shark who swims with the boat is hilarious. The description of sailing through the Panama canal is fascinating. Actually, if I have any criticism of this book, it is that Kendall could have elaborated on this part more as the whole concept fascinated me. Overall though it was a terrific read.