Day of the Dumpling

Green Beans with Wild Mushrooms

Didn't have wild mushrooms, so we used "tame" mushrooms.

Fresh green beans

Green Beans with Wild Mushrooms Recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/green-beans-with-wild-mushrooms-recipe/index.html

Stir Fry Spinach with Garlic

Baby Spinach

Stir-fry Spinach with Garlic

Stir-fry Spinach with Garlic Recipe

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/r/spinach-garlic.htm

Napa Cabbage and Pork Steamed Dumplings

Napa Cabbage

Dumpling production

Voila...a dumpling

Steaming Dumplings

Dumpling Recipes

http://chinesedumplingrecipes.com/napa-cabbage-and-pork-steamed-dumplings.html

http://chinesedumplingrecipes.com/beef-potstickers-a-chinese-fried-dumpling-recipe.html

http://chinesedumplingrecipes.com/how-to-make-chinese-dumpling-wrappers.html

http://www.asiandumplingtips.com/ tips on how to make dumplings

http://www.kingofchinesedumpling.com/english/index.htm traditions of the dumpling

The dumplings were delicious, Peggy gets 5 stars ***** for the recipe selection and dumpling production. After steaming a batch of dumplings, we used the pot-sticker technique and fried, then steamed the second batch - even better! 

Peggy made the wrappers, which was quite a process, so she will try the store-bought wrappers tomorrow with the left-over filling - stay tuned for the report on these. Rolling the home-made wrappers thin enough to avoid chewiness was a challenge, nevertheless, they were good enough for me to consume at least a dozen.

The green beans with wild mushrooms were good, but we agreed not as good as the green bean recipe we made previously. I chose it because I wanted to try a dish with the oyster sauce I purchased for our last Chinese Cooking Lab. I found it not to be as flavorful as expected - maybe because the mushrooms we used weren't "wild."

The simple stir-fry spinach with garlic was a keeper. I will certainly make that again. My secret ingredient was chile oil (instead of paste) because that is what we had and LOTS of fresh garlic - how could we go wrong?

We did revisit our practitioner manuscripts on the art of calligraphy and Terra Cotta Warriors. We organized, delegated and set deadlines. 

Time to write... Chinese proverb: "Talk Doesn't Cook Rice."

A Weekend of China Inspired Reunions...

Paige & Kim

Two great reunions took place in my life this weekend. The Arts in Education 2013 Reunion session and my fabulous weekend with Kim Mitchell, Carnegie Visual Arts Center Executive Director.  I have not seen Kim since we met her during our May 2012 Confucius Institute China adventure.

The Arts in Education Reunion naturally took on an Asian theme this year. My China experience and Jessica Freeland's (Arts in Education Coordinator) honeymoon trip to Japan provided inspiration and motivation to share our knowledge and passion for Asian arts and culture with our grant participants.

Incredibly fortunate timing brought Kim Mitchell to town this weekend to "research" Mardi Gras for the second year of Decatur, Alabama's Mardi-Gras-style celebration: Carnegie Carnival, presented by the Carnegie Visual Arts Center. So in addition to being able to share Mobile Mardi Gras with Kim, she was able to join me in sharing our China experiences with the Arts in Education teachers and students in the reunion workshop Saturday morning.

Paige Vitulli, Kim Mitchell, and Jeannette Fresne
presenting at the Arts in Education Reunion 2013: Asia

Paper lantern production

Kim assisting with lantern construction

Tissue paper adds design and color

Chinese Paper Lantern Resources:

How to Make a Chinese Paper Lantern, Martha Stewart Video

http://www.marthastewart.com/920925/how-make-chinese-paper-lantern

Paper Lanterns Lesson Plans:

http://www.oberlin.edu/amam/asia/lantern/Default.html

http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/chinese-lanterns-lesson-plan/

http://incredibleart.org/lessons/high/anderson.html

Great ladies of Decatur, AL researching Mardi Gras for Carnegie Carnival.

Mobile, AL Mardi Gras

China's Make or Break College Entrance Exam

The New York Times/Scholastic UpFront Magazine has an interesting article about China's "gaokao" college entrance exam.

Be sure to click the link on the bottom left of the magazine article to watch a 5 minute video which chronicles the efforts of Chinese high school students as they prepare for the exam, including one young man who says  he studied "thirteen hours a day, 7 days a week for an entire year."

http://upfront.scholastic.com/issues/01_28_13/book#/14

Next Made-in-China Boom: College Graduates

Good NY Times article on the evolution of higher education in China:

"The aim is to change the current system, in which a tiny, highly educated elite oversees vast armies of semi-trained factory workers and rural laborers. China wants to move up the development curve by fostering a much more broadly educated public, one that more closely resembles the multifaceted labor forces of the United States and Europe."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/business/chinas-ambitious-goal-for-boom-in-college-graduates.html?smid=pl-share

Check out the slide show for pictures of university life: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/01/14/business/University.html?smid=pl-share

Host a Guest Teacher/Study in China/Connect Internationally

The following information is provided by the American Councils for International Eduation:

　
　

*HOST A GUEST TEACHER*

The Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) places EFL teachers from

China and Egypt in U.S. K-12 host schools for an academic year where they

teach Mandarin or Arabic language and culture. TCLP provides teachers’

salaries, healthcare, roundtrip airfare, training, professional development

funds, and ongoing program support. Selected host schools also receive

access to grant opportunities to support language learning projects. For

more information, please visit *www.tclprogram.org*. To speak with alumni

about their TCLP experience, join an online

webinar<http://www.americancouncils.org/TCLP/newsDetail.php?news_id=NTc5NjBfNTY1XzYzNDYw>
.
*Program Application Deadline:* January 23, 2013


*CONNECT INTERNATIONALLY*

The Educational Seminars Program provides short-term professional

development opportunities to teachers and administrators from around the

world, for 3 week reciprocal exchange programs (Brazil, Portugal) and 2-5

week one-way professional development programs (India, China). Educational

Seminars provide airfare, training, travel health care, and living costs.

Visit www.americancouncils.org/es for updates and more information or email

edseminars@americancouncils.org

*Program Application Deadlines:* January 7, 2013 (India); April 1, 2013

(Brazil, Portugal); TBD, 2013 (China)

　
　

*STUDY LANGUAGE IN CHINA*

The Intensive Summer Language Institute* *(ISLI)* *provides fully funded

fellowships for non-native speakers of Chinese who are teaching Chinese to

spend six weeks overseas studying intermediate and advanced-level Chinese

in Changchun, China. Fellowships are available to current K-12 teachers and

community college instructors of Mandarin Chinese, as well as to students

enrolled in education programs who intend to teach Mandarin. Participants

earn ten hours of graduate credit through Bryn Mawr College, and are

provided with peer tutors and roundtrip airfare. All travel and

study-related costs are fully covered. Visit *www.americancouncils.org/isli* or

email *isli@americancouncils.org* for more information.

*Program Application Deadline:* February 11, 2013

　

　

Thank you very much for sharing these opportunities with your networks! If

there are any questions about the Teacher Programs, please feel free to

share my contact information.

　

　
　
Alena Palevitz

Program Officer, Teacher Programs

American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS

1828 L Street, NW, Suite 1200

Washington, DC 20036

Tel: 202.833.7522

Fax: 202.833.7523

Top Chinese Social Media Networks

Ever heard of Renren? It's the Chinese equivalent of Facebook. How about Sina Weibo? Think Twitter. Check out the link below, sent to me by Donna Pigg, USA's Director of International Student Services and Admissions, featuring the top Chinese social media networks:

http://mashable.com/2012/07/02/china-social-networks/

Chinese Culture for Kids

Peggy Delmas and Paige Vitulli

As Peggy and I were cooking Chinese food and developing an outline for an article describing art activities inspired by our trip to China, we toyed with the idea of extending an exploratory art day planned for a few children to one open to all children of the faculty and staff of our College of Education. Chinese Culture for Kids took place today and we thoroughly enjoyed sharing our knowledge and experiences with the children and adults in our college. Students from kindergarten to high school, moms, dads, and grandparents were all engaged in creating terra-cotta warriors from Model Magic and practicing calligraphy skills on mini canvases.

Dr. McGowan and Dr. Guest painting canvases
the color representing good fortune,  joy and luck.

Libby and Callie painting and sculpting.

Anna and Jay

Artists and moms!

Even a Dad :-) Thanks for painting and sculpting with us Andy!

Libby was a fabulous artist and assistant!

Grand daughter Corinne and Dr. Santoli

Ava

Anna

Callie

Corinne exploring with Model Magic.

Samuel sculpting his terra-cotta warrior.

Calligraphy symbols explained by Samuel.

Showing off Callie's fabulous art.

Corinne trying out the chopsticks and Chinese white rabbit candy.

Adding to the video via SMART Board

Kungfu Bunny 3: Counterattack (featuring “White Rabbit” candy): 6 minute animated video by a student in the Communication University of China’s College of Animation and Digital Arts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJc2KExUQsw

The kids loved this video and asked to see it again at the end of our activities - Peggy



Two Fab Ladies

The title of this post is an homage to one of my all-time favorite cooking shows, "Two Fat Ladies," which unfortunately is no longer in production (alas one of the ladies has passed on). The two cooks were mature, generously proportioned  British ladies who rode around on a Triumph motorcycle and sidecar to picturesque locations in the UK where they cooked high calorie, high carb, highly comforting food with a heavy side of to-hell-with-it-all attitude.

Not that there are any similarities between the beloved "Fat Ladies," and Paige and myself. None really. Although the idea of the Triumph is very appealing.

Our growing collection of Chinese food ingredients. 

Yesterday we ventured back into the Chinese cooking lab (aka Paige's comfy kitchen), for a wholly enjoyable afternoon of noodles, cucumbers, and pancakes. In preparation I had the good sense to seek out an Asian market in order to find authentic ingredients for our menu. My Hoa Oriental Food Market on Azalea Road is fantastic! I could have spent hours perusing the aisles. Who knew there were so many varieties of rice and noodles?

Here are the recipes for what we cooked and comments on each dish:

Scallion Pancakes (frankly I chose this recipe because it was one of the less intimidating ones in Paige's Chinese cookbook collection). The recipe called for me to make a well in the flour and to add the water a bit at a time. Paige made fun of my flour volcano, then said it called to mind that creepy rock formation (Devil's Tower?) in "Close Encounters," which then turned into a revelation that as a middle-schooler she had been an extra in the evacuation scene in the movie, which was filmed in Bay Minette and at Brookley. Imagine that! The pancakes turned out to be tasty little morsels, though I would certainly roll them a bit thinner next time for more of a crunch.

Peggy's "Close Encounters" flour volcano.

Scallion Pancakes

Spicy Cucumber Salad. This was my favorite recipe. It is very simple, requiring the briefest of introductions between cucumber and hot peanut oil. The chile peppers give the dish a nice zing. This is a novel way to serve cucumbers.

Cucumbers seeded and
"cut evenly into batons the size of french-fried potatoes."

Cucumbers, peanut & sesame oils, and dried chiles.

Cold Spicy Chinese Noodles with Slivered Chicken (Paige's favorite). Probably the most fun dish because it required the spreading of cooked noodles on a surface to cool and the massaging of said noodles with peanut oil to keep them from sticking to each other. In other words, we got to play with our food. The very spicy sauce for this dish was deliciously flavorful and the sesame paste in it reminded Paige and me both of Thai food.

 

AND, lest anyone think this was all fun and games, while the noodles cooled and the pancake dough rested, we outlined articles and presentations based on our two wonderful weeks in China.

Then it was time to tuck into our excellent Chinese meal, eaten properly with chopsticks, I might add.

For our next foray into Chinese cooking we will tackle the wonderful world of dumplings!



South China Internship Program

Received this announcement today from Dr. Jim Ellis, our Director of International Programs.

If you're interested contact Dr. Ellis, or Mrs. Ana Burgany: http://www.southalabama.edu/international/studyabroad/index.html

>>> 11/5/2012 7:47 AM >>>

Under a new grant from Ford Foundation, the Hong Kong America Center - a non-profit consortium of Hong Kong universities -is announcing the South China Internship Program (SCI) a national competition for 20 American undergraduates to participate in a low-cost, high-quality "tandem internships". The twenty American undergraduates will team-up with twenty same-age Chinese university students to spend eight weeks together in summer 2013 as interns in companies and NGOs in the booming Pearl River Delta of south China. The intern teams will work together in small teams on joint projects for their company hosts. Inspired by the 100,000 Strong Initiative, HKAC is looking for young Americans with strong academics and high motivation to explore their career potential involving China. Some knowledge of Chinese language is preferred. We kindly ask International Offices in American universities convey this information to eligible undergraduate students. The deadline for applications is January 14, 2013. Online poster, application form and full program information is at: www.cuhk.edu.hk/hkac/scip.html. Prospective applicants may contact Mr. Ray Tran of the HKAC at: raytran@eservices.cuhk.edu.hk.

Thank you for alerting your students to this opportunity. We welcome all inquiries about the new SCI program.

Sincerely,

Glenn Shive

Executive Director, Hong Kong America Center

　

　

　

Apparently, China's "Great Firewall" is Permeable.

Prior to traveling to China, Peggy and I set up this blog and began posting our pre-travel China-related activities and plans - we even posted from the first leg of the journey in Atlanta. Neither of us anticipated being unable to access Blogger once we arrived in China (and Facebook for me). We were extremely disappointed for the short period of time we thought our communication with family, friends, colleagues, and students through daily blog posts was blocked. As we continued to develop and save posts, I decided to try publishing again and quickly realized that although I could not view the blog, from my iPhone or iPad app, I could post. (I contacted my daughter back home to confirm the posts were being published.) Thankfully we were back in the business of sharing the photos and descriptions of the fascinating country.

I came across the following article related to our desire to use social media in China and challenges.
Millions of Chinese pour onto Facebook, Twitter, report claims

New data estimates that Facebook has 63 million users in China and Twitter has 35 million -- in spite of strict government bans and censorship on social media. 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57522008-93/millions-of-chinese-pour-onto-facebook-twitter-report-claims/