Bean Salad

What is this delightful little green bean you ask? FAVA Bean!

 I didn't know what they were when I bought them, but I was curious and jumped in with both feet and bought a 1/4 pound (100 grams).  Upon inspection I noticed that there seemed to be a soft shell encasing the bean.  Having never bought fresh fava beans and at the time not even sure what they were, I was absolutely fascinated.  Do I peel them and then boil them? Are they tasty like fresh uncooked peas? Do I boil them in the shell?  After some consideration (but no thought to looking all this up on the internet, where all answers can certainly be found) I boldly decided to boil with shell on. I boiled for about 7 minutes and then began to peel them.

Actually you just "pop" them out the the shell, a rather fun job.  I then mixed them up with a can of large white beans and a can of small black beans.  Before serving I added halved cherry tomatoes, feta cheese,  chopped avocado and a fresh dressing of lime, cider vinegar, cilantro, salt and pepper.  Which is not shown here.  After I took this picture of the beans in the bowl I then added the above mentioned ingredients, sat down and ate it. After completing the delicious meal I realized I neglected to take a picture of the finished product.  You have to trust me it was very pretty and very tasty.

Good news and more good news!

My Application Results

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 9:26 AM

From:"Tracy Wang"

To:"Mollica Elizabeth"

 

Dear Ms. Mollica:

 

Good evening!

 

I have received an offer from Arizona State University (Research Assistantship for Master), and plan to go there. Today I pass my VISA, and book the fight on Jul.25th.

 

I just want to say thank you, because you are the first person that made myself believe that I can conquer the speech impediment.  I know it would still be a barrier for me for a while, but now I am not terrified, and will seize every chance to improve the oral English. 

 

Best wishes!

Tracy Wang

Donghua University

 

 

I taught Tracy almost 2 years ago when she was a Sophomore. I am so proud of her! 

 

The thing is, I woke this morning thinking about the fact that I only had 3 more days left of my 6 month contract and wondered what shall I do to fill the time here in Shanghai, I really should work part-time at least. I made some coffee, fired up the computer and received the message from Tracy.  A great way to start the day!

 

Next was an email offering me a part-time job, which quite frankly is exactly what I want, this full time stuff interferes with living a full and happy life in this vibrant city of Shanghai.  I have missed out on all the adventures that my friends go on and I am now looking forward to continuing to discover this interesting city.

 

 

Donghua University

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 3:58 AM

From:"dhupang"

To:"elizabethmollica"

Dear Mollica

I am Marc Pang with Donghua University. Do you still remember me? We are looking for foreign teachers for the following academic year. My boss thinks you are very familiar with our working environment since you worked with us for more than two years. Plus the students gave us good feedback about your teaching here. Therefore she asked me to contact you to see if you are interested in our position. All are the same in the contract except that the monthly pay will increase.

I am looking forward to your prompt reply.

Best regards

Marc Pang

 

Well, there you have it, one door closes and another opens! I am pretty sure I won't stop smiling today!

 

 

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

In two weeks I will sitting where this lovely lady is sitting, I hope she doesn't mind that I am going to push off the edge if she doesn't move willingly.  

This looks like a great place to watch the sunset.
(I pinched these pictures off the website.)

On April 28th Tony and I are going to the Malaysian State on the island of Boreno for a nice week long holiday. I am looking forward to relaxing on the beach, snorkeling, and perhaps even climbing the tallest mountain in Malaysia, well maybe not as it takes two days to do it.

Goodbye to good friends.

 My dear friend Brenda and her husband Jim have left Asia after living here for almost 20 years.  They lived in Taiwan and Shanghai for that time and have had an exciting and interesting life.  Brenda has been a good friend and we have shared some wonderful  and interesting times together.  We all went to brunch together at Abbey Road as Tony was not going to be able to go to the going away party at the end of the month.

 Here we are at Southern Belle, Brenda's favorite BBQ restaurant in Shanghai.  It was a great goodbye party, Brenda even got a ride in a motorcycle sidecar from a friend that night! 

 I decided to walk home after the party and ran into some food carts.  I just love how they hang the supplies off the cart in shopping bags.

Just like any drive thru in the US, isn't it fantastic! It did smell good, one vendor (to the far left) had a bbq and was grilling meat and seafood.  The vendor on the right, with the drive up customer, sells noodles with veg.  You would think that would be hard to make on a cart but it's quite common to see all around China.

Huh?

Is this the hospital you go to if want electricity to power your machines to help you get better?
Is this the place you take your electrical items to get fixed?
Is this for the state employees who work for the electrical company?
Is this even a hospital? Is this the office building for the electrical grid for the city?
Hard to know, but I am intrigued by the sign.

What do you think?

Easter Sunday

 On our way to church this morning Colette and I saw some young children playing in an empty lot.  The little one below is wearing traditional baby pants. Pants that have a large cut out in the bottom. Why do they do that you ask?  Easy toilet access.  Diapers are very expensive and cloth diapers are for night time only.  When you have to go you just take a squat.   The smaller babies that cannot walk are, at times, held over a garbage can while the little one pushes him/herself to victory!  Other times they are just held nearer to the sidewalk and a present is left for all to see.  (Just like a dog, in China they only sometimes clean up after their dog and I never see them cleaning up after the baby.)  One time - I kid you not - a shop keeper (could have been the owner) held her baby over the front step of the shop, left a present and then went inside.  When you entered the store was a nice baby pile just for you.  What are they thinking?   In the winter their bottoms are red and chapped and in every season the bottoms can be quite dirty looking.   You can see some wonderful baby butts (pictures taken by my friend Robyn W.) here: http://www.surpriseshanghai.blogspot.com/2010/11/shanghai-baby-butts.html

 This is the first time I have attended St. Francis Xavier Church and it was beautiful.  The inside had been redone for the World Expo 2010, with the governments help I am told.  This is unusual, the government's favorite religion is the Communist party but there are seven recognized religions in China. It is possible to worship without breaking the law in China.

 Here is Colette in her Sunday best! All my pictures seem to have a blue hue to them, I had the camera on the wrong setting.  Oh well.

 Inside the pretty church, everything was so shiny and golden!  Colette said I was like a bird, attracted to all the shiny things.

 Outside the weather was 70 degrees with a light breeze.  After a great service with a fantastic choir, I took myself  for a nice walk while Colette went off to a friends house.

 Happy Easter everyone!

Connected!

 As I was walking down the street I passed by a small store front selling Mantau. Mantau are steamed buns, they are filled with either pork, or vegetables.   Sounds kind of weird, steamed bread but if done right it's very tasty.   Imagine soft white bread that has been freshly made that morning, on the second rise of the bread the dough is made into small buns and a stuffing is tucked into the center, folded over and left to rise a second time. The owner of the shop (this woman?) wakes at 3am to begin her bread making and the shop opens at 6 or 7 am.  The cooking process, steam, seems very strange but the bread is not wet has it develops a type of skin while steaming.  Think Wonder Bread with a slice of meatloaf only neatly produced in a round bun shape.  Yummy!  I don't know if I prefer the vegetable or the pork.  It depends on my mood and the vendor. Some put a funny tofu inside with the veg, some use mushrooms and some use a very strong tasting veg that I find unpalatable.  The pork, never lets me down, salty and juicy.  Pork - is it the national meat of China?  It should be as it's everywhere.

 In the picture below it looks like you couldn't swing a dead cat around in this small shop or an alive one for that matter. There is just enough room to stand and make bread, no toilet or break room in this shop. Which is just as well as they never seem to wash their hands so I rather she didn't use the loo on her 12 hour shift.  And this of course begs the question - how long is her shift? Does she get a break? And where does she go to relieve herself?  While the basics seem far away in this shop, she is connected! Wireless I wonder? Or is she watching a DVD?

What a terrible day.

Speedboat death toll rises to 4 after bodies found

By Lu Feiran and Cai Wenjun  |   2012-4-6  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION 

I returned to work after a 3 day holiday only to learn of a horrific accident that happened during the holiday  You can read about it in the article below.  It has really affected me as one of the freshman students who perished was a student of mine.  I cannot imagine the heartache and pain the parents must be feeling, I feel such a loss and sadness.   Please pray for the parents, friends and families who have suffered this loss.

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THE bodies of two students missing after a speedboat accident on Taihu Lake in Suzhou were found yesterday, bringing the total death toll to four. They were found about 100 meters from the accident site.

Three students who were injured are being treated at Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital.

The Shanghai Tourism Administration said the students who died were three freshmen from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a female post-graduate student from the East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai who was working as a part-time tour guide.

On Wednesday, the students' speedboat collided with a cable behind a cargo ship which was being used to tow another vessel. "It happened all of a sudden," said Peng Zifeng, one of the injured. "I heard a big bang, and then the speedboat was thrown into the air. I felt being knocked by something hard, and lost consciousness."

Peng said that when he woke up, most of the people on the boat had been thrown into the water. There had been eight on board, including the guide and the skipper. The guide was lying beside him with blood all over her face. When the boat reached shore it was found that two students were missing.

Peng said that no one on the boat had been wearing a life jacket. Before boarding, they asked whether they needed them but the boat owner said it was not necessary.

Two of the injured students, who were also from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, suffered skull fractures and one of them had a spinal injury.

The third student left hospital in the morning after a checkup, but as he complained of a headache later, he was readmitted. Doctors feared the possibility of a cerebral hemorrhage.

"They are in a stable condition," said Zhang Mili, a hospital official. "We will carry out further checks and treatment. So far no surgery has been arranged."

The first 48 hours are critical after a head injury and if there are no complications the three are expected to go home in one or two weeks. The skipper is in a stable condition in a Suzhou hospital.

Yesterday, the Suzhou Maritime Bureau said the owner of the speedboat should bear main responsibility of the accident.

"Speedboats don't have a fixed route between the two islands the students went to," said Zhou Baoqing, an official with the bureau. "The route is chosen by the owner himself but he miscalculated."

The owner is being questioned by police and the accident is still under investigation.