Green Ice Creammmmmmmmmm

---

Today, the many of the people who are "Tianjiao" gathered to bid Dawna adieu and we chose to do it in my favourite Thai Restaurant--the one whose name I don't know, cuz I cannot read Chinese! Ha ha ha ha ha--funny! I call it the red chile pepper cuz that's what's on the sign outside, with all that Chinese. LOL All the teachers--Rich and Diane, the 3 Amigas--Dawna, Joyce and I, Jim, Alan and Charles plus some of the office staff--Andy, Rhianna, Vivian and Sarah joined us, which was awesome! We ate WAY too much, and it was all delightfully lip-smacking......I even got to have my favourite Tom Yum Soup, or Thai Hot and Sour, and then after our Thai meal Dawna and I, we crossed the bridge to the Carrefour store and had ourselves a final green ice-cream together--that felt a bit bittersweet, but she must go home to her peoples. And, nope, not pistachio. This green ice-cream is unique to China, and I had never had green tea ice-cream before coming here. Those of you who know me well also know that I don't particularly like Canadian green tea--I am usually a black tea drinker, however, the Chinese have raised tea and its enjoyment to a fine art form, with an extreme amount of cultural significance and I actually DO enjoy green tea, especially oolong here...especially when it is mixed up with cream and sugar and frozen.....I took pictures to show you this tasty morsel. LOL...check out the photos....now, I dare you to tell me it doesn't look amazing? Trust me, it IS! The place where I buy the green ice cream also has a green tea latte which looks rather tempting, but I always end up with ice-cream instead! LOL One of these days, though, I am gonna try it. I promise ya!

Last night, I was invited to supper at the home of one of my young students, Coco. Coco is also a piano player and so I was invited to come and have supper with them, and to listen to her play the piano. I had really looked forward to the evening and was not disappointed at all. I bought a bag of apples to bring as a gift. When I asked my Chinese friends if bringing flowers would be appropriate they politely advised me that flowers would not be the nicest gift, instead a gift of fruit would be better. I chose about 6 of the biggest, juiciest Chinese apples I could find. These particular ones are my favourite kind here...very mild tasting, pink and extremely juicy! I will miss them when I get back home. Also, the apple pears here are so cheap compared to home, and I love those, too! Now, at home I would place them artfully in a gift bag, with a nice card, well I couldn't find a gift bag, so I will just hand over the apples in a plastic bag. Jeez. That just doesn't seem right, but I don't know how else to do this properly. Sarah, one of the Tianjiao class directors came with me to make sure I get there and also to act as translator. She is such a lovely young woman, pretty, so pleasant and just finished her university degree in Business English, clever and hard-working. I enjoy her company very much. I am pleased she has chosen to give her time up to help me tonight. The Chinese people are so very kind and will go far out of their way to help ensure that our visit has been wonderful! I absolutely LOVE that about them.

Mary, Coco's mother, must have cooked all afternoon for me. She prepared a beautiful supper--duck soup, as a tonic for the coming winter, rice, and vegetables, and some pork and fish, HUGE prawns and something that was really tasty, but I have not got a clue, and maybe don't WANT to know what it was......lol...also, there were tiny little mussle type mollusks. It was divine! They worried that I wouldn't like the food (Yeah, so laughable for a foodie like me!) but that was not possible. The family I met included Coco's mother, Mary, and her parents, grandmother and grandfather. They share a tidy apartment somewhere past my place. I felt very comfortable with them and they made me feel so welcome and at home. They graciously accepted my gift of apples and pointed to some of the SAME kind of apples in a bowl! I was glad then, that those particular apples were what I chose to bring as offering. We were invited to sit, and then Coco came and showed us her beautiful Yamaha piano which is almost exactly like my own piano, but hers is black and mine is brown. That girl can really play! She played a concert for us and I was impressed with her talent. Bravo Coco!

Mary kept refilling my plate until I was so full that I begged Sarah to please tell her that although the food was absolutely delicious, and it was, I just couldn't eat another bite or I'd explode! I offered to help her clean up, they had set up a table in the living room so we could all eat together, but they shooed me away to sit in the living room and then considerately turned on the Chinese CNN in English, no less. I thought that was very considerate considering it's just me and Sarah who speak English. Mary made herself some tea, and when I told her through Sarah how much I loved Chinese tea, she promptly busied herself making me a cup and then gifted me with a full box of Ooolong and told me she'd like to get me a tea set, too! I protested that that would be too much, and I would have not felt very good walking out of there with the family's tea set, though I was struck by Mary's utter generosity! Conversation surrounded the things I loved about China and the family had lots of questions about me, my life and Canada. They wondered if I lived in Vancouver, and I had to explain how I lived in the middle of the vast Canada, up north, and they were fascinated. Not once during the meal or visit did I feel out of place. I am again struck by how much more, we as people, have in common than not. This gracious lady, my hostess, was working hard to provide her daughter with the best life possible, and their family was the centre of her life. And though busy working as an accountant, she made time to invite a stranger, a Canadian teacher into her home. Her daughter, Coco, is such a talented and pleasant child. Very tall for her 12 years. I jokingly told Mary I would take Coco back with me to Canada where she could be my Chinese daughter! I have been invited back to celebrate the National Day with their family, and so Joyce and I will go together. We will picnic and then go to the seaside or maybe to the mountain. Either way, sounds wonderful!

Sarah and I took a cab home from our dinner. Mary accompanied us to the main road close by her apartment complex and made sure we hailed a taxi. I got so mixed up with my directions in the cab, we had to retrace our steps a little to get me home. I admit, I had an embarassing moment and a giggle (lol, are you suprised? HA!) when Sarah asked me where did I live and I had to say, "I don't know Sarah. I used to have a card with my address on it, but it disappeared. Let's call Andy to find out!" I told her that I could find my way home if they got me to a bus stop downtown, but the cab driver told her "It would be easy for someone like her to be kidnapped." Hmmm. That was food for thought. I had been warned not to be out after 9 by myself and so it seemed prudent to maybe have them drop me directly at the apartment, which is what we did in the end. After apologizing profusely to Sarah about getting mixed up, we hugged and I thanked her for her time and for the gift of a lovely evening shared by us all.

The weather seems to have reshifted back to "oven" and it was a hot 34 degrees yesteday. With my hacking cough I am finding it tough. I had planned to walk for an hour yesterday, but instead rested in the cool instead of walking in the heat of the afternoon, which turned out to be a good idea, since I had more energy to visit during my dinner out at Mary and Coco's place. Joyce and I are off to Gulang Yu or Piano Island for our overnight outing later today. Dawna parted from us this morning a bit before 7. She should be on her way to Beijing now, maybe even be landing there shortly. I will be looking forward to the quiet of the Isand and maybe even a pedicure! Ahhhhhh. Stay tuned...more to come! LOL

---

Photos

Dawna's Good-bye luncheon
Joyce, Jim and Dawna at the Red Pepper Thai Restaurant.

Vivian
I actually captured Vivian sitting still, which is not usually her! She is usually scurrying this way and that at Tianjio getting things done!

Love...
Diane and Rich being cutesy! LOL

Sarah
Sarah the lovely and smart assistant.

Andy & Charles
Andy in a rare display of frivolity and Charles looking on. LOL Wonder what we might persuade Andy into with a few beers under his belt, eh? LMAO

Shop photo of Green Ice Cream
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Latte anyone?
I am gonna get me one of dese before I goes. LOL I gots to try it. Looks so good.

The real deal
What the green looks like in my hot little hand.....LOL

Melting ice-cream
My green tea ice-cream already melting quickly in the afternoon heat. Hurry up already and get done with pix so I can enjoy! LOL

Coco
Playing her piano very, very well. I was impressed.

3 Generations
Coco, my student, her mother, Mary and Grandmother, whose name was never offered.

Us
Me, Coco, Mary and Grandmother.

Grandmother
83 and still going strong.

Grandfather
Quick to smile and curious about me, he wanted to tell me about how he loved to sing in a choir in his youth.

Sara, my handler!
LOL, Sarah, my friend, teaching assistant and translator on this visit. She made the evening so much easier and pleasant. Thanks Sarah. XO

An authentic Chinese Meal
Supper was amazing! Clockwise from the big pot of Duck soup, deep fried pork, vegetables, prawns, fish, middle is mollusks and the unidentified dish that was really tasty! I ate WAYYY too much.