Spicy Strip, a Special Treat for Foreign Teachers at XJTLU
Spicy strip, a snack made of seasoned gluten popular among those born in 1980's and 1990's, has staged a breath-taking comeback to campus in the country, and its sales have gone crazy at online shopping site Taobao.com on November 11, also known as China's "Black Friday". After the last EAP (English for Academic Purpose) lesson, the students of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) gave their foreign teachers a special spicy treat.
Among 600 teachers at the university, 80% are foreigners and this was the first time for most of them to taste the popular school snack. "I love it," said Nigel Dixon of the Language Center. He said the flavor reminded him of Indian dishes, which most Britons love. "One of my colleagues loves it too and said he would like to have more."
"It's spicy and has an unusual flavor," said Jonathan Culbert, "but it's really tasty." He then went on joking about buying the strips in bulk from China and selling them in the U.S. to make a fortune.
"Some of the foreign teachers have spent four years teaching here but few of them know about spicy strips or Taobao's shopping gala." Zhang Yalan from the Department of Mathematics said the plan was to introduce the snack to foreign teachers so that they'd know more about campus culture.
Originally published on City Business News
December 17, 2014