Back to work.

The Spring Festival holiday is over and it is time to get back to work. We had Rita over for chili one evening. I found cumin already ground-up for the chili, but since I already had the mortar and pestle, I purchased the whole cumin. Next time I will buy the ground-up; cumin seeds are hard to grind by hand. I did go ahead and buy the chili powder instead of making my own. If you check the packet of chili seasoning mix, you will find that chili is not the only ingredient; here it is. I made the mistake of putting in the whole packet and it was too hot even for me. Rita ate a whole bowl. Other than the heat, it was very good and I will have to make it again. As usual, DJ enjoyed the company and had a good time. DJ took a bath and played with her toys after Rita left.

Debora had the social meeting again this week and will for the next two weeks before Sharon comes back to take over. One of the kids that came brought their dog to make friends with Spot. It looks like he had a great time. Another boy gave us a drawing he had done of Confucius. It is beautiful. And still another person gave us a special calendar that their grandfather does calligraphy for that is very beautiful. Our Chinese friends are so nice and special to us.

Like I said, it is time to get back to work. I went in on Monday to prepare for classes that started back yesterday. Andrea and David got their schedules. I had to cover for Connie's first two spoken classes, since she was still on a plane from Beijing, coming back from Canada. David just sat in on some classes, but Andrea was given a couple of George's classes, since he won't be back until next week. I also learned that we will be having a total of seven foreign teachers this year. The last teacher is arriving from America on Sunday. Mei is very excited that the school will have five teachers from America.