L.I.P. (Lunch in Peace)

I love where I work. I can walk there. For the most part, the folks I work with (save a couple) are very nice, generous, down-to-earth people. I have many "work" friends. Again, I love where I work. My "job" is a different story. However, I have adjusted and learned how to make certain benefits more than make up for my boring, unstimulating, brain-to-mush job (the whole older, wiser thing). One of my "tricks" is to escape during lunch. Those who really know me....well, they know where I go, they know where I sit in the back of the room, and if they’re smart, they’ll leave me alone during lunch. :) When I see someone who doesn’t know better walking toward me I sometimes silently scream, "Go away, go away! Can’t you see my head is bent down and for gosh sake’s, I have my reading glasses on! Now scram!" But they continue walking toward me and eventually I’m forced to raise my head, lower my glasses, and act like a respectable human being. I even know how to smile while thinking of verbage that will prompt them to quickly speak their mind and.......well......leave!
Today was a good day. :)

Live and learn.....

Did you know that if you mix a pint of ice cream (any flavor) with 1.5 cups of self-rising baking flour, you get bread? It's true. Once you bake it, of course. This is what Mayfield's Banana Split ice cream, which has bits of nuts and cherries in it, looks like when morphed into bread. It was actually decent, even if a bit dense. Try it for yourself. Grease and flour your loaf pan. Heat your oven to 350 and then bake it for about 40 minutes or so. Let your ice cream get good and soft before attempting to stir the ice cream and flour together. I want to try it with Pistachio ice cream. This would be a great recipe to try with little ones. They love it when they feel like they've baked something all by themselves.
On a sad note, I lost one of my little feral kitties that lives underneath the house across the street last weekend. This cat (sex unknown) couldn't have been more than 4 months old. I've stopped feeding all the neighborhood cats on my front porch but I do take food to places I know they're hanging out from time to time so they don't starve. This one couldn't compete with the traffic. It's the first time I've personally cleaned an animal up off the street but the marathoners were coming through so there was no time to call animal control. This kitty was orange and white. It's sibling is gray and white and I'm hoping it doesn't meet the same fate. There's another kitty, also very young and tiger-striped, that is full with kittens right now and she is living under the house next door to mine. I feed her on my little side porch. I wish I could catch her before she drops her litter but the chances are slim. I can only get within about 4 feet of her as she meows. I feel pretty certain that after feeding that other litter for 2 years (which I eventually trapped, sterilized, domesticated as best I could, and then found homes for them), I've become known to all the feral cats in the neighborhood as the house where there's always food. It doesn't take much to create a feral colony. A student gets a cat, think it's all cute and everything and then pretty much abandons it when they move....and they move a lot. The cat gets pregnant, etc. etc.
My son is coming home for the summer or at least most of the summer. He says he's bringing his own cat with him, who was named Purr when he adopted him from the vet. Purr has been declawed. Max hasn't (I don't much believe in ripping off a cat's defense mechanism). Max is a loner cat and doesn't really play well with others. It's going to be very interesting for a couple of months. :) I imagine there's going to be some cat hair flying about.

Bottoms Up!

I have been reading up a bit on the culture and customs of Georgia. I learned the importance of the tamada at a traditional Georgian feast and have been kidding my friend, Nana, and calling myself the "master tamada" when I host dinner parties (even though tamada's are traditionally male). She recently told me that she had a gift for me since I had made myself a self-proclaimed tamada. She gave me a drinking horn! Wow! It’s beautiful, really, and an object I will possess the rest of my life.
Here’s some things I learned about the tamada and the drinking horn:
"There is a tradition that no Georgian meal is complete without wine and a "tamada," the host or toastmaster, whose role is to create a ambience and ensure that everyone present can socialize and enjoy the occasion. A good tamada is a poet, philosopher, social commentator, orator, singer (that’s me!) who creatively improvises a beautiful atmosphere of community, camaraderie and love through his toasts which introduce periods of tranquility and reflection amidst the extroverted energy of table conversation. Georgians are in fact very proud and generous with their wine, and since toasts are the only occasion when one is supposed to drink their wine, there are many toasts. In fact, Georgians will use just about anything as an excuse to toast. A foreign visitor is a great excuse to do so (I can’t wait to visit Georgia with Nana!).
If you are being toasted, you are supposed to wait until the tamada has finished, then stand up and thank the toaster. You should wait until everyone else is done before drinking your wine in one go. If the tamada says "Alaverdi!" to you, you should elaborate on his toast.
Most Georgian homes have a large ram’s or goat’s horn called a khantsi. This will invariably be brought out at some point during the meal, filled with wine and handed to an honored guest. The honored guest is supposed to drink it to the bottom (oh, yeah).
I’m looking forward to my trip to Georgia, most likely in late summer, 2007. :)

Five Country Dinner

It was a wonderful evening! I need a bigger table and more chairs (Ruihe had to sit on my craft stool and I borrowed a chair from next door). My friends seemed to really enjoy the menu: southwestern chicken casserole, chili, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and dirty rice (rice with ground beef and many spices). We had caramelized peaches and homemade cinnamon cookies for dessert as well as "birthday brownies" that Liyin brought with her. We took pictures, videos, laughed, solved world problems, and blew out four candles for the four who were celebrating a March birthday! If I have a bigger table and more chairs, I’m sure I can get at least eight to ten countries in my dining room! :)

Smell....

Much work to be done this weekend. Eating out with 5 (Japanese) then cooking for 8 tomorrow night (totally American). I wonder what my friends thought when I told them one of the items I was preparing was "dirty rice." :) Sunday is the Knoxville Marathon. Travels in front of my house.....twice. A sight to see. I was going to run in it but I sprained my ankle. Yeah, that's it. I sprained my ankle.....

Yearly Dumpling Lesson

Yes, I know you’ve heard all this before. And your point is? :) So let’s review. You mix ground pork with finely chopped Chinese cabbage (bok choy) (although here, Hua does not finely chop the cabbage) with some ginger, green onions, salt, maybe some garlic and stir it always in one direction (remember what I told you about meat fibers needing to bond? Huh?). Then you buy your wrappers from the Asian grocery store because let’s face it; they’re good, cheap and shorten the time between beginning your dumplings and your stomach being satisfied. :) With your chopsticks (keep it real, folks), put a small amount of dumpling mixture on your wrapper. Dip your fingers into the small bowl of water you put beside you on the table and run your wet fingertip around the outside of the wrapper which acts as the "glue". Fold it over and press together at the top, then with your thumb and forefinger, pinch each side. See how pretty Yeheng does it? I’m getting better but still no pro. Put 10-12 dumplings in your big pot of boiling water. When they rise to the top, pour in a cup of cold water and wait for them to rise to the top again, then another cup of cold water and when they rise to the top of the boiling water for the third time.....well, hey, they’re done! :) You can also pan fry them (my favorite, favorite way to eat them) but sometimes it’s easier to cook them by boiling first and then lightly pan fry. That’s my preference. And I like to dip my dumpling (yes, I'm a dumpling dipper) in a little soy sauce, but just ever so lightly. Slurping your dumpling into your mouth is not frowned upon in China. So slurp away. We also enjoyed tomatoes and eggs (very popular in China), broccoli, bean sprouts with pork and carrots, green peppers and carrots, and rice (even a little egg-fried rice which I specially requested).
Ah.....dumplings. Good food, good friends, good conversation. A perfect Sunday evening.

Blurry Evening

There's a story behind this photo.
Yep.
:)

Enlightenment by Film

I thought I might write about the wacky, weird Australian movie, Alexandra’s Project, my movie buds and I viewed Tuesday night. But last night’s movie at the I-House, Turtles Can Fly, trumped that one by far. Turtles Can Fly was extremely moving and very educational. I now understand far more about the plight of the Kurds in the world. There were two very informed Iranians at this viewing who answered my questions with diverse and first-hand knowledge. Written, directed AND produced by Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi, the film features local non-actor children. Ghobadi, I’m told, prefers his stories be expressed through the eyes of children. This one is about the lives of Kurdish children living on the Iran-Iraq border on the eve of the American invasion of Iraq. I wish more of these types of movies made it to the big screen in Knoxville. I am grateful, however, that the University is committed to showing many international films throughout the year for the benefit of the University community. Now, it seems apparent that I must see another of Ghobadi’s films, A Time for Drunken Horses. It’s the story of a Kurdish family on the Iran-Iraq border dealing with the illness of its youngest member. As one critic states: "what makes A Time for Drunken Horses such a must-see film is not its powerful authenticity, but the fact that it's the most emotionally engaging film I've seen all year. I was hooked from the first minute, and despite the awful topic, there are many pleasures in this film." I'm already in the process of getting it via NetFlicks from a friend's account.
Have a great weekend! I'm going to enjoy the students being on Spring Break and being able to park in front of my house. :)

Then Comes Marriage.....

Okay, so I’ve promised an entry about the wedding I attended where my friend, Yeheng, wed her long-time boyfriend, Xing Hua. In China, weddings typically take place in the groom’s hometown and are largely planned by the groom’s mother. Hua was raised in the county town of Hunyuan, about an hour’s drive from Datong. Hunyuan County is famous for its hanging monastery, Xuankong Temple, Mountain Heng, the Yuanjue Temple Pagoda, and other beautiful sites. It is also a coal-mining town where everyone heats their homes with coal. This is evident in the brown tint to the air and on some mornings you can feel the thick coal air in your throat as you breathe. You’re probably wondering if I saw any elderly folks in this town. I did. So apparently people do survive living with such polluted air. Let me also just say that of all the Chinese cities I was fortunate to visit.....I absolutely loved Hunyuan County. People were nice and generous to me everywhere....even more so in this small town. And though I missed seeing blue sky, I really didn’t mind the smoky air at all.

Back to the wedding. On the morning of the wedding ceremony (January 1), which would be Buddhist in nature, Yeheng and Hua both went to have their hair done and Yeheng had her make-up done. From the time she woke up she had to wear all red clothing, right down to her undies.
Red is an important and very lucky color in China. Because of the wedding there were red decorations on the hotel room door, taped up at the entrance to the hotel, and taped to the door of Hua’s home.
Yeheng then went to her mother’s hotel room where she was staying and waited for Hua to come and get her for the ceremony. Li-yin and I were also in the hotel room waiting, as well as Yeheng’s mother, sister and brother-in-law. Everyone was a bit anxious. And then we heard it. The fireworks that were going off just outside the hotel, signifying Hua’s arrival to everyone within ear shot that a wedding was about to take place. We looked out the window and saw a black SUV all decorated in red and then four black BMWs that would take the rest of us to Hua’s home for the ceremony. Hua and his guy friends from childhood made their way to the hotel room and knocked. We called out to Hua from behind the closed door and made him do "tricks" before he would be allowed to enter. I don’t understand Mandarin so I was oblivious to what everyone was yelling back and forth but then I was encouraged to "play a trick on Hua." So I cracked the door and told him that to gain entrance he must sing a song in English. Hua laughed and sang the only song that came to mind, which his Chinese English teacher had taught him, Jingle Bells! We all laughed and Hua passed me "lucky" money (20 yuan=$2.50) folded and wrapped in red paper through the cracked door. We then decided it was time to allow Hua to enter. He went straight to Yeheng who was sitting on the bed, veiled in red, and averting her eyes from Hua. He got down on his knees and I was told that he had to plead with her to come with him and marry him. At first she looked stern and protested but eventually smiled and agreed to go with him. He picked her up (another "trick" that he was forced to endure) and carried her all the way down the stairs and outside the hotel to the waiting BMW caravan and drivers. More fireworks went off as Yeheng and Hua emerged from the hotel.
With Yeheng and Hua being drive in the lead car and the rest of us following in four BMWs, we headed off, convoy-style and horns blaring, to Hua’s parent’s home for the traditional ceremony.
Once there, you guessed it, more fireworks. Tracy had to sit on the "wedding bed" and face a certain direction for a period of time (we were in there with her most of the time) while Hua greeted guests and mingled among folks. There was fruit and wedding candy and wedding pastries sitting around on platters. There was never any kind of formal wedding cake, however.
Finally, Hua came to get her. Tracy had changed into an all red wedding dress with gold sequins. They came out into the small courtyard of this traditional home and being officiated by one of Hua’s childhood friends, were led through a series of Buddhist sayings and lots and lots of bowing to all four directions. They also had to circle this little pyramid of burning coal. One this part of the ceremony was over we all mingled for a while (this was close family and friends only) and then formed our convoy once again to head to the restaurant for a big meal and presentation of the wedding couple and families (and more fireworks being set off at the restaurant; I think the entire town knew of this wedding). The entire restaurant was overtaken by wedding guests and there must have been close to 300 people there. I couldn’t believe that Hua’s family was paying for such a big, lavish meal. Later, Li-yin explained that it is customary for folks to slip Hua’s father money as they arrive at the restaurant in order to help pay for this big wedding feast. An interesting observation is that no one brought wedding gifts. Li-yin and I gave Tracy and Hua some "wedding money" wrapped in red paper for good luck on that day and perhaps others did also, which is customary.
As I was considered an honored guest, I dined in a special room upstairs with the wedding couple and immediate family members. Later we joined the throng of folks downstairs in the big dining room and I was asked to introduce myself to the entire room. Li-yin translated for me and I told everyone what a pleasure and honor it was to be able to travel to China to attend such an important occasion. The entire room clapped for me as if it was a great feat to speak in English. :)
Later, as guests started leaving, close friends of Hua had much to drink and continued to play "tricks" on him which was telling him to do things and he had to do them (such as carry Tracy on his back and other silly antics). Many photos were taken. Tracy and Hua would later spend their wedding night in the specially prepared "wedding bedroom" at Hua's parent's home. Yep, you read me right. :) It's all about tradition.
What a wonderful day full of culture for me! Later, I went back to Hua’s family home and just sat on the kang with his elderly "Auntie" and observed the family! :) Occasionally, I’d provide some laughs if I walked from one room to another and forgot to duck my head, banging it on the door facing and I was probably measured for height against all the men in the room (ha). If I remember correct, there is now a tick mark on the wall to indicate my height. :) I’m only 5'11" but in China, that’s pretty tall, especially for a woman.
Gee....what a long entry! Boring? Too many photos?

Sprung....

Spring, spring, spring. I love it! It signifies the end of hundreds and hundreds of dollars being funneled to my local utilities board! For the next couple of months, maybe more, I’ll enjoy having to use neither heat nor air! :)
Saw two movies over the weekend (which is why my book didn’t get completed). Failure to Launch (extremely entertaining) and Martin’s Shopgirl (very good). My movie pal, however, failed to see the worth in Shopgirl. It’s hard to please a movie critic.
I’m working on a dreadfully long (but hopefully entertaining and informative) entry all about Yeheng and Hua’s wedding ceremony, complete with lots of photos! Sometime this week, for sure! LB

Book Lover!

I recently took a course entitled "The Art of Bookmaking." Loved it! Now I’m swimming through my new addiction! If I still exchanged Christmas presents with folks, they’d all be getting handmade books this year. :) Instead, I’ll give them as birthday/friendship gifts or maybe just to celebrate the sun rising. I wonder how long this addiction will last? My soap-making addiction was extremely short-lived. My quilting projects haven’t been touched in several years (but the desire is still very much alive). My knitting addiction hasn’t begun yet. And my photo journaling is still very much alive even though I’m far, far behind. Books, books, books. My big, expensive craft table (an old door on 2 saw horses) sits in the room with my computer. I type transcripts at home for extra money (which never turns out to be "extra") and sometimes I’ll type for an hour and then jump up and sit at the table with all my bookmaking supplies and papers and trinkets laid out and visualize my next book for the next few minutes. It’s makes the tedious process of typing boring transcripts bearable and keeps a little creativity stirring in my brain. I plan to make a book this weekend centered around death. It’ll be a funny, little book. Just wait and see....

Talkin' 'bout the night food....

Okay.....let’s start at the top. One of the "warnings" I heard about China was that to ensure no stomach problems during short stays, avoid eating food off the street. The first meal I had in China? Straight off the street! :) In Beijing, there is a popular shopping district/street called Wangfujing. We stayed in a hotel right off this main drag on what is known as the "night food" street, Dong Hua Men. These street vendors prepare perfectly safe to eat foods. When we walked out the front of our hotel we were right at the end of the long avenue of vendors. It was a perfect location. We could also easily walk to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City.
Upon arriving in Beijing, we were met by folks from Hope Medical Foster Home (we delivered 2 suitcases full of medical supplies donated by a Nashville pediatrician and also some socks and underwear donated by the good people of Knoxville). They drove us to their facilities for a quick tour (about an hour outside Bejing). After having a wonderful time playing with the kids at Hope (www.hopefosterhome.com), their driver graciously drove us to our hotel in Beijing. By now it was near 9:00 p.m. and we had forgotten to exchange any currency. Then.....Liyin remembered that a student had given her 100 RMB ($12.50) to mail a package for him from within China. We headed straight for the night food vendors! We tried different foods and ate to our heart’s content for only 50 RMB! I didn’t try anything westerners might consider "gross", although if someone had "double dog dared" me (and thrown in a little cash), I probably would have. :) You can get octopus legs, bugs, inards such as hearts, brains, stomach, feet (chicken, pig), scorpions, crickets, silkworms, snake, lower frog bodies (half the torso and the back legs), etc. (you get the picture). I stuck with beef and pork stuffed breads and delicious treats such as wonderful banana dumplings covered in sweet sauce! :) My very favorite thing, however, was the strawberries on a stick, dipped in a warm sugary liquid substance which hardens to a thin delectable crispiness as you bite into the wonderful fruit! One stick of strawberries cost 60 cents. A bargain, especially considering how much I loved them! :)
Before our journey in China would end, we would eat on the night food street three more times.

Russia, Russia, Russia.......

Above is the Church of St. Sophia in Harbin, China. I’ve never been to Russia, but there is a large Russian influence in Harbin. One can buy all manner of Russian souvenirs, including Russian cigarettes and decadent whipped dark chocolate bars (why don’t we have those here? why?). Harbin is one of those cities with a varied historical background (okay, it’s China, no, wait, it’s Russia, no, no, it’s really China). We drove up from Changchun the morning the Ice and Snow Festival began and drove back the next afternoon. I wanted more time in Harbin but we were being chauffeured by Tracy’s Uncle, Li Da, and time was valuable. Li Da chose a wonderful hotel (I knew I should have packed my bathing suit) and several wonderful restaurants (one was fantastic hot pot). Once again, Liyin and I weren’t allowed to pay for anything. More later on the Ice and Snow Festival (which was absolutely amazing but marred a bit by the incredible pain in my near-frostbitten toes due to sub-zero temperatures). For now, it’s all Russian. This past Sunday afternoon, Nana (my friend from the Republic of Georgia) and Hua and Tracy and I walked to the I-House and joined the Russian celebration festivities. The food was plentiful and very, very, heavy in meat and bread (especially dense breads). The borscht was very good and something I’ve never tried. The Russian lady serving the food, however, wouldn’t let me continue on my way until I had put a dollop of sour cream (which I dislike) in my soup (I’m glad she insisted; it made a big difference). We ate and watched Russian cartoons featuring Cheburashka, the funny little guy pictured above who was found in a crate of oranges and is unlike any other animal in the universe. :) Poor little Cheburashka! He reminds me of Winnie the Pooh, Eyeore, and Charlie Brown all together. Tonight is the grand finale of my recent Russian education. Several of my friends and I will attend the Russian Ballet as they perform "Swan Lake." But not before some American burgers from the cheap menu at Wendy's. :)

Blue Skies.....

The Sunsphere was built for the 1982 World's Fair. I took the pic above about 2 weeks ago. The Sunsphere is 26 stories high and there are 5 stories in the sphere. Today, it's not fit for tourist vistation, though many tourists ask to go up in it. Costly repairs to elevators to be made. During it's heyday there was a restaurant up there, a VIP floor and two observation decks. I was an undergrad at UT in 1982. Like many, many other students, we hoped for jobs at the Fair. I was a secretary in the VIP lounge for the Federal Express Pavilion and also a waitress at the Stroh House. Federal Express had the coolest pavilion by far because we had an indoor laser show (lasers were a new and hot thing in the early 80's) and a nightly outdoor laser show that brought the crowds. I met Fred Smith and his family. That was a great summer, working at the Fair. I dated a magician and also a trumpet player in the World's Fair marching band. I had mimes for friends and enjoyed walking around the Fair when I wasn't working one of the two jobs. I lived on Highland Avenue, right next to the No. 9 fire station. Every night there were great fireworks from the Fair site. One night, the firemen pulled the ladder truck out of the station house and extended the bucket with me and my roommate in it to get a better view of the fireworks! Great fun......and a great summer! :)