Oh My Darlin' Clementine

It's been a really nice day. I began the morning happily deciding where to locate Paige's food and water bowls. After a leisurely shower, I strolled, apron and two containers in hand, to a cooking class a few blocks away. I signed up for this class through the Shekou International Women's Club. I joined SWIC soon after arriving here and it has been invaluable as a a way to network with other women/mothers/shoppers/fish-out-of-water/ such as myself.

As I stood puzzling over the very secure entry door to the lobby of the building listed in the e-mail about the class, a woman approached from the other side and let me in with a smile. My new friend, Suzie, and I then took the tiny elevator to the tiny apartment which is the "Shenzhen Kitchen, Chinese Cooking Workshop, Since 2003" According to the business card given to me by the smiling young instructor of the class, it is "One of the best cooking schools in the world",Gourmet Traveler , Austrailia 2008." I have little experience with cooking schools, (okay, no experience), but I think the business card may have been embellishing just a bit. We sat on tiny stools at white plastic tables, cooked our creations on hot plates, and probably exceeded the lawful capacity of the apartment with our enrollment of 7 plus 2 teachers. Did I mention the air conditioning was not working? They did put a fan conveniently behind me which kept me comfortable - my ingredients just kept blowing onto the other student's work . But, we had a GREAT TIME learning to make Prawn Dumplings and Fried Sesame Steam Buns.

Do not write asking me for the recipes or begging me to recreate these tasty dim sum selections. The instruction sheets listed all amounts in grams and the spoon we used to get ingredients like sugar, cornstarch, and salt out of little unlabelled jars was not a standard measuring spoon. There were also ingredients like "STARCH" and "FAT" "You mean lard?", we asked? "No, fat from meat you cut off and boil." came the reply. "Oh.....right.....huh?" Still, it was fun to make dumpling dough from scratch, roll it super-thin, stuff it with a mixture of diced shrimp, carrots, bamboo shoots, "fat", egg white, and cornstarch. Our instructors then demonstrated the art of beautifully folding the dumplings, creating perfect fan shapes and cleverly folded pouches that looked like silk drawstring bags. My classmates and I laughed, struggled and sweated to duplicate these masterpieces. Most of us, especially me, had to be satisfied with the knowledge that our ugly dumplings would at least taste the same! Seven minutes in a tower of bamboo steamers over boiling water and they were, indeed yummy!

The Sesame Buns filled with red bean paste were easier to make, demanding less artistry. They went through a process of steaming and then were fried in oil like old fashion donuts. Not likely the nutrition nazi (currently a position filled by Emily; Emily received her training under General Erin) will allow THAT to happen under her watch! Besides Suzie, my new friend from, of all places, Minnesota, I met Melanie from Belgium, Marian from France, Rebecca from Hong Kong, and two young ladies from Japan whose names I cannot spell. We left smiling, containers filled with our creations. My 15 ugly dumplings will be enjoyed as an appetizer tonight. The sesame buns may not get eaten since Dunkin' Donuts finally opened yesterday!

Elly came home from school grinning ear to ear, eager to tell me about the Awards Assembly held at school today. (I did not know about this...guilt, guilt.) Anyway, she was selected by her teacher to get an award for her outstanding attitude and humor thus far this year. She also got the award for Chinese Class (hard work and good listening). She was beaming as she told me about shaking the Principal's hand in front of the whole school. She was walking on air, all the more so because she had a play date planned with a new friend from Wales - a 5th Grader!

Back at home I was visited by a repairman offering to fix my doorbell , which had failed to chime when a representative of the neighborhood management team had dropped by earlier to leave a rent notice. This was the second repair our door chime required since we moved in. The chimer is battery powered and when the batteries weaken, the "Fur Elise" rendition sounds like it is being performed by a wounded cat. The repairment showed up on his electric scooter just as I was leaving for a trip to the grocery store. I handed him the chimer and told him the batteries were "bu hao" (no good). He motioned that he had to drive to the office to get batteries; I raised my shopping bags to signal that I was leaving. We used more sign language to agree that he could bring the chimer back and put it on my door stoop even if I wasn't home. Thumbs up - off to get eggs, bananas, Grape Nuts, and some ingredients Emily requested for the Italian Creme Cake she is planning for my birthday. (Her dumplings would have been lovely!) When I returned three stores later, arms about a cm longer than when I started, there was my doorbell chimer. I relaesed my load, pressed the button and.... "Oh My Darlin' Clementine" echoed through my house.

I laughed. Living here offers funny moments like this every day. Crazy that someday, when I hear THAT tune, it will make me think of CHINA!