Delicious Diversity......

This past weekend was rich in culture, diversity, and fun! Saturday I took a carload of my female foreign friends shopping. We hit Best Buy, Pier I, BB&B (Bed, Bath & Beyond), A.C. Moore, and the Dollar Tree. It was a fun, pleasant and productive outing. We finished up the shopping and realized that it was going to be at least 4 hours before we would have the Chinese dumplings we were going to make for dinner prepared and ready to eat. So I introduced the girls to the wonder of the "dollar burger" at McDonald’s. We flew through the drive-in and I assured the girls that, yes, it’s okay to eat in my car (please.....). Within 5 minutes there was only the lingering smell of cheeseburgers. After stopping at the Fresh Market and the liquor store, we finally made it back to everyone’s respective home to unload purchases. The girls later walked to my house to prepare dinner. If you have ever wondered whether drinking margaritas, listening to latin music and dancing the salsa, while preparing pork-filled dumplings can be a great ole’ time....wonder no more! :) We all agreed that it was the best batch of dumplings to date (or was it the Margaritas that were the best to date?). Nana also prepared a Georgia dish, eaten cold, made of fried eggplant slices and then you spread on ground walnuts that have been mixed with cilantro, salt and some water and fold the eggplant over. You eat it with your fingers and it was very good. For me, however, cold eggplant takes a little getting used to. The "all girls" party broke up about 10:30 and I met everyone the next morning at 9:00 for a Sunday trip to the mountains to hike to the Alum Cave Bluffs.
We all piled in the car and were waiting for Yeheng to grab her sweatshirt and come down from her apartment. A young Chinese girl came out the door and 2 of my friends said, "Oh, there she is!" and then "Oh, wait a minute, that’s not her!" I said, "Aha!" and they all started laughing because they knew right away what I meant. So it’s NOT just Americans that think most Asian folks look extremely similar. They also affirmed that, despite the differences in hair and eye color, Asians really do think Americans look alike.
It was a wonderful day for a hike and everyone enjoyed the scenery. I also took them into Gatlinburg for a little "street walking." They were especially amused by the "China Bazaar" shops. I explained that most everything in Gatlinburg is "made in China." They did, however, make some wise purchases, such as caramel apples, toffee popcorn, taffy, all handmade in Gatlinburg; just about the only thing that is. On the drive home I learned that this group knows quite a few American songs and we sang several old tunes and especially old Broadway tunes. Definitely another amazing day with a wonderful group of international young people! Photos to come!