What did you do on New Year's eve? I learned to stuff chinese dumplings! These little morsels, often known Stateside as pot stickers but here as jiaozi ( jow-zih ), are popular cuisine whether steamed, boiled or fried. My coleader and i got to join a small local fellowship as they gathered to make jiaozi, pray for one another's needs, and of course, eat jiaozi. It was fun to be immersed in their lives in this way, and to learn that i am... not a good jiaozi stuffer. Mike of course got the hang of it immediately- the group reached a consensus and bestowed on him their unfortunate praise: "Mike, you make jiaozi like a girl." It was amazing. I on the other hand, was rather less skilled. The girl instructing me looked at my product with amusement and compassion. When i laughed and said it was bad, she shook her head and composing herself countered: "Its special." These are the joys of the groups limited english- their comments could not have been more perfect. Haha. Turns out i am pretty decent at eating jiaozi, though- even if the way i use chopsticks is special, too:)
Mmmm.
