Cooking, rapping, and eating

Last Saturday another foreign teacher and I went shopping with some of the kids at the new supermarket in Taicang. We planned to spend a couple hours with all the high school students cooking and eating food in the school’s cafeteria and we wanted to make pizza but the supermarket did not even have flour, not to mention yeast. So we went with our backup plan of making sandwiches. We grabbed 12 loaves of their only good white bread (i.e. not full of eggs and sugar), some canned tuna from Thailand, a Japanese brand of mayonnaise, a few packs of Hormel ham, some packs of cheese slices from Germany, Chinese peanut butter, and an American brand of jelly to make tuna salad, ham and cheese, and PB&J sandwiches. We also got a bunch of fruit for a fruit salad, cucumbers and garlic for a Chinese dish, and eggs, ham, and vegetables for a Korean rice dish.

We spent most of the morning in the cafeteria cutting fruit and vegetable and making sandwiches. The kids had all had fast food hamburgers and chicken sandwiches before, but for some of them it was their first sandwich with sliced white bread. We explained and demonstrated how to make the three types of sandwiches. But when we divided the kids into two groups, one to prepare ham and cheese sandwiches to then grill in the kitchen, and the other group to make tuna sandwiches, they naturally wanted to be creative and sample everything, so they put ham, cheese, peanut butter, jelly, tuna, tomato, and cucumber all on the same piece of bread. They insisted that being forced to do it “my way” was unfair and that they really wanted their tuna with jelly so I gave in and let them make it their own way. And they did think it was delicious; the only complaint was that the sandwiches were too difficult to keep together and eat when stacked so high.

A couple Korean students put together a fried rice dish called kimbob (I think the full name has another word or two), which was made with rice and kimchi (picked cabbage with chilies) from the kitchen and the ham, eggs, carrots, onions, and garlic that we bought. It was really good – spicy and flavorful.

On Saturday night, after we all went shopping, the Korean students made some Korean dishes in the kitchen and invited me to join them. They made a soup called “budae jigae” or “Army base stew” which is a mix of Spam or hot dogs, Korean vegetables, ramen noodles, and sometimes American cheese. It is named after the large stews that the Korean and American soldiers made from whatever food was readily available during the Korean War. The also made a dish of glutinous rice cakes (which has the look and texture of gnocchi, only stickier and sweeter) in a spicy red chili sauce, and some six inch long rice rolls filled with tofu, bacon, and vegetables (like Japanese sushi rolls, only this kind had rice outside of the seaweed, not the other way around).

On Friday afternoon, the school had a “Golden June” assembly, which went along Children’s Day, which was June 1st. There was a lot of karaoke style singing of Chinese songs by students of all ages and a few teachers. The performances were punctuated with a few rousing, patriotic appeals for Sichuan and the Olympics. Some Chinese boys performed a funny dance and three Korean boys did a rap song. There were also two English songs – Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” and a rock song by Muse, performed by four Korean students and a Thai student. And then Pong and I did our rap song “Living at North Shanghai.” We got a huge reaction and parts of our lyrics were printed on the back of the program. I’ve never written or performed a rap song before but when word got out that I was going to do one, my reputation was instantly inflated to that of a professional rapper in the eyes of everyone at school.

The assembly shortened Friday’s schedule, and we now have a three-day weekend because the Dragon Boat festival is Monday. People welcome the beginning of summer by eating zongzi – sticky rice cooked in bamboo leaves – and racing dragon boats (look it up, they are really cool looking).

On Saturday I went to Shanghai with a group of the Korean students (most of the Chinese students are at home this weekend). We went straight to “Korea Town” and had lunch at a Korean-Chinese fusion restaurant. Everything we had was excellent – appetizers of kimchi and vegetables with a thick, dark sesame sauce, platters of sweet and sour pork and spicy fried pork, and several different noodles bowls – one with onions and a dark sauce, another with seafood and a spicy red broth.

Down the street was a massive fake goods mall that was the best one I’ve been to yet. They had more than the usual bags, watches, and clothing. There were toys, luggage and leather goods, and even golf clubs and golf bags. It’s amazing how much attractive and popular western brands are here, yet the trademarks and IP rights of those brands are completely disregarded. So the result is a huge alternate economy of fake stuff and the irony of women wearing Chanel sunglasses and shirts that say “J’adore Dior” that are most likely illegal copies that diminish those brands and hurt the companies. I bought three pairs of athletic socks – two with the Adidas logo and one with the Puma logo. I noticed later that they are exactly the same socks, just with different logos inscribed on the sides. I'll see how long they last – each pair was less than a dollar.

I’ll post some pictures later today. I’m heading out for a run and then to meet some students for lunch.

[UPDATE] Pictures are now online.
[UPDATE] More pictures were added to the photo album linked above.