I know this is an additional entry but I have to share this. I'm working the 'late shift' till midnight in our hospitality suite, printing up itineraries etc. At this time it's usually just me and the hotel staff. The hotel assigns two to three staff who have to stand outside the door the entire time we are here. They keep the food updated and beverages stocked etc. I have often tried to get them to come inside, sit down, watch the Olympics on TV, anything but they refuse. They must not be able to leave their positions. They see me working and I feel their stares. Very often they ask if they can get me some coffee (in the morning when they see me coming they start a cup immediately).
Anyway, tonight after this hellacious day, one cute girl asked if she could get me a cup...I hate to refuse and said yes. Then she asked if she could refill it. Of course. I thank her profusely and she says in her Chinese accent (as her hands move to her heart) "it's my pleasure...it make me happy to see you smile"...well at this point of the day I just about cried. Making me smile is all she needs. Then she goes back to her position at the door. It blows me away.
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3 comments:
boy, you really know you're not in America, don't you?!???
grab a nap when you can, do some deep breathing (find a tai chi group outside), and reflect that you're time in China is precious and dwindling. . .
have fun! watching what little I have of the Olympics always makes me want to get back in shape and do something extraordinary, sports-wise!
LOVE the photo of Lucky smiling, post bath -- he is such a cutie!
much love from your Cuz
Ok, sweetie, just in case you have a bagel craving, from today's NYT. . .
August 18, 2008, 10:43 am
Satisfying a Bagel Craving in Beijing
With the Olympics in Beijing, our Dining section took a look at Chinese food in New York. Now it’s time to offer some appreciation for New York food in China — specifically bagels in Beijing.
The bagels — translated 贝谷 (beigu, or “precious wheat”) at Mrs. Shanen’s Bagels — are pretty decent. They are not simply rolls with holes that you find in some parts of the United States. These New York-style bagels, though slightly smaller, with a crisp crust and soft insides, are the product of a Brooklyn-bred Chinese-American entrepreneur, Lejen Chen, who wanted a taste of home when she moved to China. Ms. Chen has her share of fans. (Yes, bagels are Jewish, but they are more New York than they are Israeli or European. It was New Yorkers, after all, who brought bagels to Jerusalem.)
For many Olympic visitors, the bagels provide them with some crusty-baked relief in a country not really known for its baked goods. Demand for bagels soared in the weeks before the Olympics. During the week leading up to the Olympics, the company made 9,000 bagels — as much as in a typical month. The five-star hotels went on a bagel binge to prepare for the foreign guests. And NBC, based in New York City, picks up 200 or so every day for its staff and crew members. The company actually turned down a potential opportunity to provide bagels for the Olympic Village and media centers because it feared the demand would be overwhelming, but it does make deliveries to the Intercontinental Hotel in the Olympic green.
Ms. Chen, now in her late 40s, was raised in Bay Ridge near a number of bagel shops. When she moved from New York City, she missed the bagels of her childhood and learned to make bagels from a second-generation bagel maker outside Boston. She brought her recipes to Beijing, originally intending to make them for herself, but was encouraged by a friend, now husband (the “Mr. Shanen”), to start selling them. Eventually she opened up her own bagel bakery in Beijing in the mid-1990s. “It’s the comfort food for Americans if they are far from home,” she said.
“It took some time to figure out how to make it the traditional way,” she said. “Most people have this idea that you can only make bagels with New York City water,” she said. “It’s just not true.”
The water is fine, but what she does import is the wheat flour from America, the sugar from Korea and the yeast from France. The salt, however, is from China.
The bagels have earned a following. “I just remember we were all so excited to buy fresh bagels in a bread-like package,” said an American expatriate shopper who had been in China for 16 years. “I’ve had visitors come from the states and say it’s better and fresher than the ones they’ve had.”
Poppy seed is not one of the flavors.The company makes about 26 flavors, ranging from chocolate chip to jalapeno cheddar to rye to cranberry walnut. But one flavor is distinctively missing: poppy seed. Because of the country’s association with opium, poppy seeds are illegal in China. Before the Olympics, Ms. Chen heard there were poppy seed rolls making the rounds in Beijing, prompting a call to a Chinese ministry to see if things were relaxed.
“One of our chefs called up and asked, ‘Can you do poppy seed bagels?’ They said, ‘No, definitely still illegal.’”
She emphatically stated, “No one is going to get a poppy seed bagel in Beijing.”
Starting with bagels, Ms. Chen has expanded her offerings to include challah and matzo ball soup. She has also added soft-serve ice cream. She opened up a bagel shop, to go along with the original bagel factory, in an upscale expat suburb outside Beijing called Shunli. More recently, she has expanded to organic farming, with the Green Cow Farm.
Bagels are not yet a familiar part of the Chinese consciousness. They have a variety of translated names, including 焙果 (beiguo) and 贝果 (also pronounced beiguo). And one of the top searches for “bagel” on google.com.cn is “bagel是什么” (or “What is a bagel?”), which is described here as “doughnut-shaped Jewish bread.”
An interesting thing is how Ms. Chen’s staff chooses to eat them. It is not obvious to them that bagels should be limited to being cut in half and spread with cream cheese or butter.
Ms. Chen says the workers will slice up the bagels into little strips and stir-fry them in a way similar to noodles. “They would slice it and slice it again,” she said. The bagel’s chewiness allows it to absorb flavor without becoming too soggy. “They tried it and it was very good, stir fried with cabbage and sometimes bean sprouts.”
from the New Yawker Cuz
You know smile is the longest word in the dictionary...it has a mile between the s and e. Take what you learn from your experience and bring it back to the states. Sharing kindness sure makes life a lot nicer...for both the giver and the receiver!
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