Sweet Tea Rice

A look of innocent confusion passed over Vince's face as he looked down at his plate. Bravely, he brought his fork and knife to the plate and began to try to cut into the greasy goodness on his plate. His knife was working against him though, as he had it turned around the wrong way; only resulting in a hacked mess on his plate. He turned his fork and cut a small piece, too small for a boy who always finishes everyone's meals at the Chinese restaurants. As he chewed, and chewed the small piece, his head jerked forward as if this small piece of food just might pop out at

Vince and Emily eating pizza

any moment. "Vince, do you like the pizza?" Emily asked him. "Well, it is okay. It takes some time for our palates to get use to this Western food," Vince replied. "Oh okay," Emily said as she turned and smiled at me. "Yes, I use to always watch movies and see all the men eating lots and lots of pizza and be jealous of them. But now, I think maybe I am not so jealous," Vince said. "So this is your first time to try pizza?" I asked. "Yes."

Most of those at the sitting at the dinner table of the beloved Italian restaurant also had their first taste of pizza that night. In honor of Ryan's Birthday we decided to take him to get pizza and have some of his students and friends come along. Of course, we treated and brought a cake. We ordered 8 pizzas and all were gone by the end of the night. Though, most of those who had their first try of pizza that night probably went back to their dorms and had a bowl of noodles when they got there. Even though all the students didn't LOVE their first try of pizza, it was a great night. Besides just the team here and the students who came with us, we also had Tony with us and our friend and fellow teacher Jason. It was great to celebrate life and be able to pour out our love on Ryan and show and share that with the students.

The whole group after we delighted in pizza and Ryan's (center in the black coat) Birthday!

It does not always take a birthday though to spend good time eating with the students. It is "my pleasure" (the students say this all the time) to break bread with the students. I am becoming close to a groups of girls in one of my new campus classes. Their names are Rita, Semanda, DeAnn(said like Diane), and Betsy.

Betsy, Rita, DeAnn, and Semenda one day when we played ping pong together.

I can't help but love to be in their presence because they are all such good friends and take care of one another. They are also all very different girls. Picture Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants China style. After class on Thursday, we walked out of campus, past all the street food, past all the people selling little trinkets on the street, past all the restaurants a step above street food, and all the way down North street beside the campus. At the end, we arrived at The Green Apple. It is a brand new restaurant, complete with a little green apple on the sign that looks exactly like the Apple brand logo, only perfectly apple green. The inside is even better complete with round booths and decorated in orange and black (but not scary). As I sat and ate with the girls in the booth, I half expected their to be a camera hiding somewhere recording this movie moment. The place begged to be the "hang-out" of some group in a TV show, just like The Max for the Saved by the Bell gang. "Amelia, have you tried the special rice we eat at (some special) festival?" Rita turned and asked me as she talked with the owner of the restaurant who was helping us order. "No, but I'd love to try it," I replied. Five dishes later, the rice came to our table bundled in a leaf. Gooey goodness rested inside the rice. This rice gives "sticky rice" its meaning. As I took my first bite my mouth was greeted like an old friend. This rice tasted just like sweet tea!! What a dream for a southern! Rice that taste like sweet tea, in a restaurant in China with good friends. Maybe life doesn't have to be like a movie or TV show, but is too great to truly capture in such moments.