ODDS AND ENDS

Among our favorite odds and ends was a dumpling party. Remember the students who climbed Huang Gua Shan with us? They treated us to a big meal. In return, we planned a dumpling party. Everyone's favorite food is dumplings. We invited the five students early in the week -- not very Chinese because things are done rather last minute here, but some American customs, like planning ahead, are hard to let go of. After her class on Friday morning, Renee went into town with a friend to get the ground meat and other needs. David, her tutor and friend, agreed to honcho the process. David came early and helped assemble the food stuffs so that they would be ready when the kids came. He called his mother to get advice on the seasonings (boy. was she proud). When the students arrived, we talked a bit and when all were present we began the process of stuffing, folding, and then cooking the dumplings. Everyone loved the task and we laughed at the different styles and rules. You can guess whose dumplings looked worse and most likely fell apart. Dumplings are a good company meal because you also make your own strength of dipping sauce for the dumpling. Those whose tastes run to the spicy could make their sauce as hot as they wished. We made enough for everyone to have more than 20 and they all disappeared. We will do it again with a new group sometime.

Tomb Sweeping Day brought us a one day vacation - a long weekend. We stayed put, but four of our young Peace Corps friends came to visit us. What a treat for us. Jennifer came from Gansu on Friday and spent two nights (17 hour trip each way). It was great to see her. She had not been at the training in January and we feared we would not see her again. It was just like we had not been apart. Jennifer and Renee enjoyed finding a piano and spending an hour or so making it "sing." Unfortunately, they attracted an audience of students much too quickly, but they still had a good time.

On Saturday Patrick, Jonah and Caitlin came. Our little apartment cou;ld feed, but house? Another foreign teacher put up the boys for one night. The next morning, early, we watched the NCAA semifinals together. My two teams lost and I got little sympathy. We found a place for beer on Saturday night, played games on Sunday, and of all of the great things to do in and around our campus, Patrick and Jonah chose to find the blind masseur. They say they will come back for more, but we know how hard it is to do that, inertia being what it is. Just a post script, as a a result of this little masseus adventure, I had my first massage in China. It "tasted" like another.

Another odd was that we went to a music program. Afterwards we talked with one of the participants, who got our number and called, wanting to be friends. It turns out he is the roommate of another music major who is already our friend. The two of them organized a music night for us. They and their friends played and sang just for us. Of course, Renee was in her element - she played, we sang, she tried flutes and violins. Great night. One funny sidelight -- as we were walking to the rendezvous point to begin the evening, we met a couple of young English majors who inquired where we were going. When we explained, and they saw who we were meeting -- "boys" -- they decided to tag along. One ended up being asked for her telephone number and the other touched a piano for the very first time. She told me (Renee) later that she and many students from the countryside had never had a chance to see, let alone learn to play a musical instrument. That gave me another glimpse into how rich we really are.

Another end was a birthday party. David the tutor and dumpling chef turned 20 on Saturday. He invited us and some of his classmates to a party. This is the Chinese custom. The birthday boy throws his own party. We had a delicious meal of Duck Soup. The table was filled with small dishes to be added to and eaten from the soup. We ate so much that we did not have dinner that night.

Easter is odd here in China. It is not celebrated in any way like in America in the community nor in the churches. Being outside of the city we missed some of the goings on - apparently there were baptisms in the Catholic Church and a vigil. To prepare ourselves we watched The Passion and the Last Temptation of Christ. Easter in the Catholic Church was a confession day but with so many people not everyone got heard. The church was packed and everything took longer, but there was little except the music to indicate it was a special feast day. The Evangelical Church had a shortened service. Then a marathon of over 40 acts took the stage to sing and dance. Much of it was religious but not all. It was sort of a potluck of entertainment and praise rather than food. Many of the participants were "seniors" and from the countryside. Some of them only get to chuch on Christmas and Easter, but not because they would not like to go more often. It is very difficult for them to leave their farms. The congregation, probably the "deacons," if there are such things, cooked and distributed a boxed lunch for the crowd before the end of the show. After eating, the crowd thinned considerably.

Many odds and ends.