Dumplings

A couple of pictures from Erin's last night in Nanjing...our "auntie" came over and together we made jiaozi (dumplings, which apparently are the best things to eat before traveling. If you eat dumplings preceding a journey, so they say, you will reach your destination safely--I guess it worked, because Erin made it back safely to America (despite the subversive round- and star-shaped dumplings that he made).
Speaking of safe arrivals, the new batch of teachers rolled into Shanghai early on the morning of the 29th. I picked them up at the airport and we spent the night in Shanghai before returning to Nanjing, where they will all stay for a three-week orientation before heading off to their posts all over China. Most of them have traveled in this country before and speak Chinese to some degree, so in some ways they are quite different from our group last year. But what fun we had those days, bumbling around this city, unable to communicate even the simplest idea! We honed our miming skills exquisitely.

making jiaozi 

Erin's non-traditional dumpling shapes