Arianne Phillip, May 19

Arianne Phillip, May 19

Today we went to class and learned a few words in Chinese. Our professor’s name was Vicki. Vicki’s lesson was on Chinese numbers, writing and recognizing Chinese characters, and learning how to bargain. I thought Vicki’s lesson was very useful because I went shopping later in the afternoon. Learning how to count in Chinese was also helpful in bargaining today.

I was quite excited when I arrived at the shopping center. The first item I picked up was a blue striped dressed. When I saw the sales person I said to her “duōshǎo qián (how much is it),” she then told me a price that I thought was too high so I proceeded to bargain it down. The store owner and I went back and forth on the price until I was satisfied with the price I was willing to pay. Before learning how to bargain in Chinese I needed help from my volunteer to buy my items, I felt accomplished to bargain in Chinese by myself.

After I came back from shopping all the international students went to a culinary arts school to learn how to cook Chinese food. This was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve been through on this trip. When we first arrived at the school a chef and his assistants prepared three main meals for us. Afterwards our group broke off into two teams and created two different dishes. In my group our first dish was made up of chicken, peanuts, celery, and a mixture of spices. We were able to cook all of the ingredients in a wok with the help of culinary students at the school.

Our next dish was spinach dumplings. A different chef demonstrated to us how to make spinach dumplings. First he poured spinach juice in the dough and kneaded it until the dough was completely green. Then he sliced the dough into long strips and pin-rolled it into small circular shapes. The last step was adding the spinach in the middle of the dumpling and closing the dumpling. The chef showed us three different ways to make a dumpling closure. I had fun making the dumplings and chicken dish. To my surprise I loved the spinach dumplings.

I really enjoyed making Chinese food today and I am happy that I can go back home and say that I learned how to cook authentic Chinese food from professional chefs.