"Nan chi si le!" Chinese for "tastes gross to death!" It's like saying "you're killin' me!" but in Chinese you can apply it to most nouns or situations. I can't remember what Diana was referring to, but her use of that phrase made me laugh. I was over at her house with my family and chinese friend, Apple. Diana is my sibling's chinese tutor, and today she made jiao zi, or dumplings, for us. She is 70 years old and fled from her home on the main land of China at the age of 12 because of the communist uprising - her father was on the "wrong" side. My mom is encouraging her to write down her life story, but Diana is convinced no one would read it. Quite mistaken, as it is fascinating! She watched the plane runway blow up in the streets of Beijing right where her plane had just taken off. She learned to dye white cotton with soil made red by the clay it held so that she could flatten herself on the ground during Japanese air raids and blend in with the ground. Everything she says belongs in a museum.
Eating home-made jiao zi today reminded me of all the food I miss most in China. During my summer trip in Tian Jin in 2007, I went with some students to a hun duin resturant that still makes me a little faint (it was inexplicably good) when I think about it and realize it is thousands of miles out of my reach. Hun duin are like jiao zi, or dumplings, but their skins are thinner and the filling isn't cut into such small pieces. I was also reminded of what I call "pocket sandwhiches" which we discovered in my "home city" of Urumqi. It's street vendor food and resembles a pita pocket. You can choose whatever fillings you like and the vendor will pack the pocket full. My favorites were cubed chicken and potatoe, and shredded beef with green peppers, if I remember correctly. I must go back some day. ^^
Yesterday evening I was sitting by the fireplace drinking some superly yummy cream soda that Jordan and Jonas brought over and my dad came over and spouted this quote, "If you are not a liberal at 23, you have no heart, and if you are not conservative by 53, you have no brain." Of course not a hard and fast rule, but it's thought provoking and makes me smile inwardly at my youthful ideas. At the same time I minorly resent that all my feelings on politics and everything really, may be pre-assigned to me by the rings that I run in, if you know what I mean.
I have too many fantastic things on my computer not to share something every post! Here is a drawing by a student from the school I am hoping to attend next fall, SCAD. This one is for Jonas, a bit, because he likes kitties so much! :)
Have a restful weekend, everyone! ^^
Eating home-made jiao zi today reminded me of all the food I miss most in China. During my summer trip in Tian Jin in 2007, I went with some students to a hun duin resturant that still makes me a little faint (it was inexplicably good) when I think about it and realize it is thousands of miles out of my reach. Hun duin are like jiao zi, or dumplings, but their skins are thinner and the filling isn't cut into such small pieces. I was also reminded of what I call "pocket sandwhiches" which we discovered in my "home city" of Urumqi. It's street vendor food and resembles a pita pocket. You can choose whatever fillings you like and the vendor will pack the pocket full. My favorites were cubed chicken and potatoe, and shredded beef with green peppers, if I remember correctly. I must go back some day. ^^
Yesterday evening I was sitting by the fireplace drinking some superly yummy cream soda that Jordan and Jonas brought over and my dad came over and spouted this quote, "If you are not a liberal at 23, you have no heart, and if you are not conservative by 53, you have no brain." Of course not a hard and fast rule, but it's thought provoking and makes me smile inwardly at my youthful ideas. At the same time I minorly resent that all my feelings on politics and everything really, may be pre-assigned to me by the rings that I run in, if you know what I mean.
I have too many fantastic things on my computer not to share something every post! Here is a drawing by a student from the school I am hoping to attend next fall, SCAD. This one is for Jonas, a bit, because he likes kitties so much! :)
Have a restful weekend, everyone! ^^
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