Think Octopus and Survive the Sliced Pigs Ears

It's our first night in China and the Wushu Federation has scheduled a welcome banquet for the arriving teams from around the world.  The starters are on the table.  Most look familiar — either familiar dishes or at least familiar ingredients.  Then there is the pressed pink-ish thing looking like some kind of rolled terrine with many layers and cut into thin slices.  It's some kind of meat.  I'm not sure I want to know what kind.  In the spirit of being open-minded, I take one.  It has a crunchy, chewy texture — a lot like octopus.  That's it.  Octopus rolled up, pressed, and sliced.  I can handle that. My fantasy is short-lived when someone at the table announces that the mysterious food item is sliced pigs ears. Oh. I set it aside and dig into other, more familiar dishes.  The half-finished sliced pig ear sits on my plate, mocking me.  "Hah!  You don't have the guts to finish me." (I'm reminded of a certain friend who, when at a noodle stand in Vietnam, eagerly ate two bowls of tasty pho with some unknown meat and then was informed by an expat Brit that the meat balls in the pho were pigs' testicles.  The second bowl went unfinished.) Think pressed octopus, I tell myself, and finish the slice. When the sliced pigs' ears re-appeared on the morning buffet, I could pass on them in good conscience.