Monday 18 March 2013

One Friday evening in January, Don and I were invited over to the dorm room of our student helper, Michael Zhou.
Michael said that we were going to make dumplings, since making dumplings together is a traditional family activity
during the spring festival (Chinese New Year's). Michael is from the province of Hunan, and he said that his family
meets on New Year's eve and assembles and cooks and eats dumplings.

We walked to the dormitory, unsure of how this was going to work. It was soon apparent that we were going to do
the making, cooking and eating, right in Michael's room. Two other roommates were there, plus another friend that
was called down from upstairs, and Vicky, another student helper who has often helped Michael take care of us.
Most of the students had already left the campus to visit their families for the holidays. The dorm was quiet. As
it turned out, Michael had been assigned the oldest dormitory on campus. There were two bunk beds in a room and the
washroom was a community affair down the hall. There was one washing machine for laundry on each floor, to serve about
50 male students. There are no dryers. It was an extremely small and humble room. There was a small balcony off the end where a water
dispenser was placed (for clean drinking water), and a hot plate, which they said was illegal in the room. There were
no closets, which answered the question of why you always see clothing hanging on the balconies. It is not for drying clothes
as much as for a place to put them. Michael pays 600 yuan per year, which is $100. The girls dorms have a private
bathroom in each room and so they pay double. The foreign students have much better facilities.

The festive group had purchased 3 dumpling fillings and the wrappers. We would call them closest to won ton wrappers.
Michael made sure that we washed our hands and put on disposable plastic gloves. Then we made dumplings for about
one hour. It was fun. Don was a natural. After he told me to hold the dumpling in my hand, gently like a little baby,
I understood the need to be gentle, and my dumplings got much better. I am thinking that it is a point of pride among the
mothers in China to be able to make dumplings that look nice.

Then we heated up the water and boiled the dumplings, dipped them in sauce and had a very good meal. In the meantime, one of
the roommates was on the balcony making a nice soup. He used some meat for the broth and then added greens. It was all a
delicious memory.

This will be remembered as one of our most cherished memories from China. The invitation into the personal lives of students, the fun we had,
the joy from everyone's company and the affection that we felt, are precious to Don and I.